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THE INCONSISTENCY OF CONFORMITY 
TO THIS WORLD. 



U B. SBSLBT AND SONS, WBSTON OBBBN, THAMBS DITTON. 



THE INCONSISTENCY OF CONFORMITY 

TO THIS WORLD WITH A 

PROFESSION OF CHRISTIANITY, 



ILLUSTRATED 
IN THREE DIALOGUES. 

BY THOMAS T. BIDDULPH, A. M. 

MINISTSR OF ST. JAMB8*S, BRISTOL, AND OP OURSTON, IN 

SOHBRSBTSHIRB. 



FOURTH EDITION. 






. - " . - •> ^ ■'^ - 



• ^ ^ » ! - - - : 



PUBLISHED BY R. B. SEELEY AND W. BURNSIDE; 

AND SOLD BY L. B. SEELEY AND SONS, 

FLEET STREET, LONDON. 

MDCCCXXXI. 



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#M?YO^ 



DIALOGUE I. 



MISS NEWMAN. 



Good morniDgy Mrs. Dormer; I am glad to 
find that you are able to take advantage of this 
fine day after your late indisposition. 



MRS. DORMER. 

I thank you^ Miss Newman, I am much 
better than I was, when you so kindly &voured 
me with a call ; and this clear morning seems to 
brace my nerves and cheer my spirits, which 
have suffered by my long confinement. Pray 
how is your neighbour, Mrs* PMlmund ? for I 
hear that she has been ill as well as I. 

B 



2 ON THE INCONSISTENCY OF 

MISS NEWMAN. 

Yes; she has been very unwell indeed; but 
I am happy to inform you that she is much 
better. She is a woman of a very amiable tem- 
per; but I wish I could see more spirituality 
of mind in her. I indulged a hope that this 
indisposition (since affliction is the frequent 
means which our heavenly Father employs for 
the cure of our spiritual maladies) would have 
produced a salutary effect ; and have proved 
as beneficial to her soul as the prescriptions 
of Dv. Pearson have done to her body. 

MRS. DORMER. 

But why, Miss Newman, do you express so 
much solicitude about Mrs. Philmund's state 
9f mind ? Have you heard any thing that 
reflects disgrace on her moral character ? I 
have long observed with pleasure the constancy 
of her attendance on the ministry of the Grospel ; 
a,nd that, not only on thie Lord's day, but also 
at our weekly lecture. I have found by con- 
versation with her, tbat her nund is well in- 



CONFORMITY TO THE WORLD. 3 

formed, and that her views are evangelical. I 
am also assured that an altar for God is erected 
in her house, where she has family- prayer morn- 
ing and evening ; and when I have called on 
her, the Bible has lain on her table, which I 
supposed she had been reading. If a judgment 
may be formed from occasional intercourse with 
the young ladies, her daughters, she has taken 
great pains with them, and devoted much of her 
time to them; for their conversation, though 
sprightly, is sensible, and frequently tinctured 
with a religious hue. Mrs. Philmund*s charities 
seem -to bear a proportion to her income ; and 
when she cannot relieve, she always pities cir- 
cumstances of distress, wishing that her means 
were larger, that she might have the pleasure 
of more diffusive benificence. ' 



MISS NEWMAN. 

All this is true and much more of the same 
kind ; which made me say that Mrs. Philmund 
is a very amiable woman. The traits of her 

^ See note A. in Appendix. 
B 2 



4 ON THE INCONSISTENCY OF 

character which you have mentionedy have won 
my esteem to a great degree ; and thence arose 
the wish I just now expressed when you inquired 
after her. That wish, I can assure you, was not 
uttered in a spirit of censoriousness, nor was it 
the result of a proud self-righteous disposition ; 
for I do not know one individual in the cata- 
logue of my acquaintance, at whose feet I cannot 
sit, knowing myself to be less than the least of 
all saints ; if indeed the name of a saint can» 
with any propriety, be applied to one so un- 
worthy of divine favour as I am. But my dear 
Mrs. Dormer well knows that one thing is need* 
/ul ; and that this one thing is a spirituality 
of mind, which, though it may vary in its degree 
of perfection, is a certain consequence of a true 
conversion to God: for to be camally^minded 
is death ; hut to be spiritualfy'minded is life and 
peace. ' 

* Rom. viii. 6. 



CONFORMITY TO THE WORLD. 5 

MRS. DORMER. 

All this is certainly true, and built on the 
plainest declarations of the Holy Scriptures. 
But why should my dear Miss Newman suspect 
Mrs. Philmund of being so very defective in this 
comprehensive feature of the Christian charac« 
ter ? With respect to the spirituality of mind 
and will which the law of Grod peremptorily 
demands, we are all, even the most devoted 
among us, very defective ; for in reviewing the 
extensive scope and inflexible nature of the 
divine law, as requiring truth in the inward 
partita ^ even St. Paul acknowledged, / am 
camaii sold under mh, and exclaimed, O, 
wretched man that I ami who shall deliver me 
from the body' of this death f * 

MISS NEWMAN. 

But you will observe that the apostle aho 
says. That which I do^ I allow not : for what 
I would, that do I not; but what I bate, that 

» Psalm li; 6. ^ Rom. yij, i4»-24. 



THE INCONSISTENCY OF CONFORMITY 
TO THIS WORLD. 



8 ON THE INCONSHTENCY OF 

sipation of which she is voluntarily a frequent 
witness, are calculated to carnalize the affections, 
and depress that^elevation of soul which is the 
characteristic of a child of Grod, and which'is 
maintained with great difficulty, without any 
exterior obstacles, through the constant tendency 
of our innate corruption to its own centre of 
attraction.-^I speak in general terms on the 
subject through a sense of delicacy ; — there is 
no need of descending to particulars. 

MRS. DORMER. 

I clearly understand you. But do not your 
views lead to unnecessary preciseness and an 
offensive particularity of conduct ? 

Miss NEWMAN. 

Young and inexperienced as I am, I feel 
really afraid to speak on a subject, concerning 
which the practice of a great, many respectable 
professors runs counter to the convictions of my 
mind. — I allow that the views I have stated lead 



COMFORMITT TO TUB WORLD. 9 

to a particularity of conduct which is offensive 
to the worlds becaiMC it condemns them ; and to 
the god of this worlds because it is hostile to 
the interests of his kin^^om : but not offenHve^ 
I think, to H1M9 who says of all his disciples^ 
They are not of the worlds even as I am not of 
the world; and who tells them, that therefore 
the world wiU hate them : * nor, I should sup* 
pose» to those among his professing followers, 
who have set their affections on things above^ 
where Christ sitteth at the right hand of God. ^ 

MRS. DORMER. 

Would you wish, my dear Miss Newman, 
that our friend Mrs, Philmund should banish . 
herself and her daughters from society ? that 
she should exclude them from all company ? 
or that they should never be seen except at 
church ? Would not this be the part of an 
unkind parent, and prejudicial in its conse- 
quences to their future conduct and respect- 
ability in life? 

* John xvii. 14. » Col. iii. 1, 2. 



10 OM THE INCONSISTENCY OF 

MISS NEWMAN. 

I reasoDy Mrs. Dormer, oa the supposition 
that a Christian is to make the unseen realities 
of a future world his grand scope ; ^ and that 
every thing in this world is to be appreciated 
by its connection with eternity. If I am wrong 
in my principle of action, do tell me. But to 
answer your questions, I verily think that young 
women in the present age are by far too much 
in public company ; and that thereby many of 
them become forward, petulant, and loquacious, 
to the utter destruction of that skamefacedness 
and sobriety 9^ which the apostle mentions as 
the highest ornament of the female sex. To 
read a lecture on education, however, is not my 
province ; and your questions may be answered^ 
without adverting to that subject. For we are 
highly &voured in having so many families 
among us which profess godliness, with whom 
we may maintain a friendly and a profitable 
intercourse ; so that there is no necessity of our 

1 2 Cor. iv. 18. « 1 Tim. ii. 9. 

' See note B. in Appendix. 



CONFORMITY TO THE WORLD. 11 

seclusion froin all society, on the one band ; nor 
of seeking it, to the clanger of our peace, and the 
hinderance of our growth in the divine life, on 
the other. And therefore, though no plea can 
excuse a voluntary intrusion of ourselves into 
worldly company ; yet our choice of it is more 
inexcusable than theirs who are differently 
situated, and must either bury themselves in 
absolute privacy, or plunge themselves into 
temptation. 



MRS. DORMER. 

But may not Mrs. Philmund innocently com- 
ply with the inclinations of her children ? You 
know that her daughters, at least some of them, 
make no profession of religion. And would you 
debar them from all the amusements, which are 
suited to their age and situation ? 

MISS NEWMAN. 

The conduct of my own honoured and be- 
loved parents, in the management of me and 



12 ON THE INCONSISTENCY OF 

my sister, appears to me to exhibit a model 
worthy of imitation. It is only within a very 
few years, as you must remember, that I have 
found that satisfaction in religion which renders 
the pleasures and vanities of the world insipid 
and its society disgusting. Antecedent to the 
time from which, I hope, I may date my con- 
version to God, I felt as many other young 
persons feel, a powerful attraction to those 
scenes of vanity of which I had heard by report ; 
though my parents (gratefully do I recall to 
memory the kind restraint !) had wisely kept 
me from any experimental acquaintance with 
them. While, however the piety of those, to 
whom I looked up as vested with an unlimited 
right of controling and directing my conduct, 
prohibited my introduction to places of amuse- 
ment and the haunts of sinful gratification ; 
they made it manifest that they were not in- 
fluenced in their conduct by any motive but the 
promotion of my good ; for they afforded me 
every mean of innocent and profitable amusement 
which their circumstances would admit ; and 
endeavoured, by degrees, as I was capable of 



CONFORMITY TO THE WORLD. 13 

receiving instructiony to lead my inind, in my 
juvenile studies, from nature to nature's God. 
By these efforts my heart, though it sometimes 
hankered after forbidden diversions, of which it 
scarcely knew the nature, was kept, in general, 
satisfied without them ; and though as yet I 
knew not God, my engagements were such as 
rather tended to habituate my mind to the 
contemplation and love of his name, and not to 
alienate it from him. From one species of study 
which my father proposed, and at which I 
eagerly caught as a new object, I derived a 
considerable degree of pleasure and profit. Ever 
anxious to engage my attention to something 
useful, he one day said to me, ^^ My dear Ann, 
a knowledge of the word of God is the most 
sublime and valuable acquisition we can make. 
It is essential to our present comfort and future 
happiness. Under this impression your mother 
«nd I, solicitous for your welfare here and here- 
after, have endeavoured to instil into your mind, 
and into that of our dear Eliza, the principles 
of Christianity. You are both tolerably well 
instructed in the historical parts of the Bible ; 



14 OM THB INCONSISTENCY OF 

and I am looking forward to the time, when I 
hope God will enlighten your minds, and cap- 
tivate your aiFections, by the doctrinal and 
preceptive parts of it. To afford you an experi- 
mental introspection of its interior mysteries, is 
beyond our power : this must be derived from 
divine teachings which we daily solicit from 
heaven on your behalf. In the interval I could 
wish your time to be employed, and your facul- 
ties exercised in a way that may be preparatory 
thereto : and with this view, I propose to your 
consideration an attempt of acquiring some 
knowledge of the primaeval language, in which 
the first Scriptures were written. You will find 
the pursuit both amusing and profitable. There 
are charms in the language which God himself 
taught our first parents in Paradise, Vwhich no 
language derived therefrom (as all other lan- 
guages are) can possibly possess. At present I 
cannot explain to you the admirable peculiari-p 
ties, by which it is distinguished from every 
thipg of human invention.^ But, if you consent 

* See note C. in Appendix. 
^ See Rev. Wm. Jones's Letter to the Hon. L, K. on the 



CONFORBfITT TO THB WORLD. 15 

to my proposal we shall be enabled^ as we go 
OD, to shed more light. on,; the subject; and if 
you find the employment wearisome, we can 
desist whenever we please. I obtained, without 
the help of a master, when young, a superficial 
knowledge of the sacred tongue; which I shall 
be glad to increase for my own benefit, while I 
am helping you; though, indeed, the acqui- 
sition of the language is now so facilitated by 
Mr. Parkhurst's excellent grammar and lexicon, 
that the assistance of a roaster is by no means 
necessary to the student who is really desirous of 
attaining his proposed object, i And therefore, 
since my time is much employed, as you know, 
iamy business, you will be able to proceed with 
littlC) or even no help from me.'' — Pleased with 
the novelty of the proposal, my sister and I im- 
mediately went to work with my father's books : 
and thus our time was prevented from hanging 
heavily on our hands. And since the period 
when it pleased God to open my understanding 
to understand the Scriptures^ and to reveal to my 

Use of the Hebrew Language^ in the 12th volume of his 
works. ^ See note D. in Appendix. 



16 ON THE INCONSISTENCY OF 

soul by his Spirit the great salvation which they 
display ; I look back on the hours I employed 
in acquiring a little knowledge of the Hebrew 
tongue with a kind of satisfaction, which a 
recollection of those spent in the study of music, 
drawing, and the French language^ by no means 
afford ; for though the latter attainments may 
be of some small use to me in the present world, 
the former will be of advantage to me in prepar- 
ing for the world to come. ^ — I am afraid I shall 
weary you with my detail of parental attentions 
(a subject of which I am never tired) ; or I 
would mention another scheme devised for the 
purpose of keeping our minds employed and 
of improving our hearts, without those time- 
killing and ensnaring amusements, which are 
now. so fashionable; and of which, I am sorry to 
observe, that even professing parents do not see 
the evil. 

* See note E. in Appendix. 



CONFORMITY TO THE WORLD. 1? 

MRS. DORMER. 

My dear Ann, I am so interested in your 
narrativey especially with a view to my own do- 
mestic charge, that I shall derive great pleasure 
from your further effusions of filial gratitude. 

MISS NEWMAN. 

My dear mother, knowing the importance 
of bodily exercise to the preservation of health, 
and that a variety of employments is essential to 
the amusement of young persons, used to take 
me and my sister with her, in her morning 
excursions to the neighbouring cottages. There 
our sensibilities were excited by the objects 
of distress which pressed on our attention, and 
the tenderness of our hearts was roused to exer- 
tion on their behalf. Our benevolent wishes 
were readily encouraged by our dear parents, 
in whom the needy and miserable always find 
a warm friend ; and we were supplied with ma«* 
terials of clothing; and, like Dorcas of old, 
employed in making them up. While we were 



18 ON THE INCONSISTENCY OF 

thus engaged, no opportunity was lost of kindling 
in our bosoms a sense of gratitude for the 
advantages we enjoyed, nor of infixing on our 
mipds the only a^iswer which can be given to the 
apostolic questions. Who maketh thee to differ 
from qnother? md^ What hast thou that thou 
didst not receive?^ Often were our young 
minds disgusted at the expensive gratifications 
of the world ; and made to abhor those means 
of dissipating money on vain or sensual amuse- 
ments which are so common, while these scenes 
of paisery were presented to our view, and im- 
proved by the wise and well-timed admonitions 
of Q\KX excellent parents. — I ^^^uld proceed; 
but I shall fatigue you, Mrs. Dormer, with n^y 
^arrft^ion. 

MRS. DORMER. 

You will not, indeed ; do go on. 

* i Cor. iv, 7. 



CONFORMITY TO THE WORLD. 19 

MISS NEWMAN. 

Thus, then, my dear madam, did our time 
insensibly slide on, till I was about twenty years 
of age, and my dear sister Eliza about eighteen. 
At this period of my life it pleased God, in his 
great mercy, to afflict me with a fit of sickness, 
which threatened my life. My dear parents, 
whose prayers for the conversion of their chil- 
dren had before been incessant, were now more 
importunate on my behalf; and, doubtless, in 
answer their entreaties, some truly religious im- 
pressions were made on my heart. I began tQ 
think of the state of my soul ; to feel its innate 
sinfulness ; and to discover that a religious edu- 
cation, and a preservation from vicious practices, 
would not be su£Scient to entitle me to a seat 
in heaven. Though accustomed to bend my 
knees morning and evening at my bed-side, I 
had never prayed till now, when I began to feel 
my need of Christ, and the necessity of a change 
of heart. My aifectionate parents watched and 
cherished these hopeful symptoms with holy 
delight; but expressed their fear, lest, on my 

C 2 



20 ON THE INCONSISTENCY OF 

recovery, which now began to take place, their 
hopes should end in disappointment. When 
my state of convalescence was considerably 
advanced, I began to look forward to the 
approaching Sabbath with emotions unknown 
before; expecting to derive from the ministry 
of Mr. Fidel, to which my parents were so 
much attached, that pleasure and advantage to 
which I had hitherto been a stranger. When 
the long- wished- for day arrived, I was suffi- 
ciently recovered to be able to resume my seat 
in the house of God : but, oh ! with what 
different sensations from any which had ever 
before arisen in my mind. The sermon seemed 
to be wholly and exclusively addressed to me ; 
and I trust I may say without presumption, 
that the Gospel was the power of God to the 
salvation^ of my lost soul. From this time 
forward those things, from which I had before 
been restrained by parental authority (to which, 
from a sense of duty, I always felt it right to 
submit) became insipid and even irksome to me. 
My sources of enjoyment are new. In the 

1 Rom.i. 16. 



CONFORMITY TO THE WORLD. ^1 

company of God's people, among whom redeem- 
ing love 18 the subject of conversation, I find 
real satisfaction ; but in the company of the 
trifling giddy children of this world,^ I am out 
of my element. I feel pity for them, long for 
the interview to be at an end, and return thank- 
ful to my closet for the redemption Jrom this 
present evil world,^ which I hope I have expe- 
rienced. — Now I think, my dear madam, that 
my little history demonstrates the possibility, 
if proper means be adopted, of amusing young 
people without suffering them to mix in those 
defiling and degrading vanities, from which 
none escape uninjured. And, on the sanction 
which the example of my own dear parents 
(with me oracular) gives to the sentiment, I am 
folly satisfied that it is a parent's duty to 
restrain those under his charge, while they con- 
tinue so, from every scene of temptation into 
which inexperienced youth would heedlessly 
plunge. 

1 Luke xvi. 8. - Gal. i. 4. 



2S ON THE INCONSISTENCY OF 

MRS. DORMER. 

Though the termination of our morning's 
walk interrupts our conversation for the present, 
I hope soon to resume it with you. For though 
I am fully satisfied with the goodness of your 
intentions, and the uprightness of your heart $ 
I am not clear that, in the ardour of your zeal, 
you have not been carried too far in your views 
of that separation from the world, which is suit- 
able to the Christian character^ If you can 
convince me that you are rights I shall feel it 
my duty to take a liberty, which iny intimacy 
with Mrs. Philmund will justify; and fulfil 
your wish by speaking to her concerning that 
part of her conduct which so much grieves you. 
Will you walk in and rest yourself? 



MISS NEWMAN. 



I thank you ; the walk home is but short, 
and my mother will wonder what is become 
of me. 



CONFORMITY TO THE WORLD. 23 

MRS. DORMER. 

Grood tnorniDg, Miss 'Newman, and thank 
you for your company. 

MISS NEWMAN. 

Madam, good morning. 



24 ON THE INCONSISTENCY OF 



A few days after the conversation detailed in 
the preceding Dialogue had taken place. Miss 
Newman, taking her sister Eliza with her, called 
on Mrs. Dormer. For her mind had been deeply 
concerned for the honour of God, and for the 
spiritual welfare of her friends, Mrs. Philmund 
and Mrs. Dormer ; the latter of whom' she was 
surprised to find concurring in sentiment and 
practice with the former. She determined, 
therefore, while she felt all the timidity natural 
to her sex, and was conscious of her disqualifi- 
cation, in consequence of her youth, for debating 
the momentous point with a person so much 
older than herself ; that, as so fair an opportunity 
was afforded her of bearing her testimony to 
the truth, it should not be lost. After earnest 
prayer, and a serious examination of her Bible, 
in which she turned down those passages which 
appeared to support her cause, she was com- 
forted by recollecting the story of David and 
Goliah. 



CONFORMITY TO THE WORLD. 25 



DIALOGUE II. 



MISS NEWMAN. 

You see, my dear madam, that I have taken 
a very early opportunity of calling on you ; to 
which I have been encouraged by the kind atten- 
tion which you showed me during our walk on 
Monday. 



MRS. DORMER. 

My dear Miss Newman, I am truly glad to 
see you.. Pray be seated. I have been rather 
uneasy, since the interview of the day you have 
just mentioned, thinking that you carry your 
religious preciseness to an unreasonable extent. 



26 ON THE INCONSISTENCY OF 

MISS NEWMAN. 

I am truly sorry, madam, to incur your dis- 
approbation by any thing I have advanced ; and 
shall be ready to receive correction from you, 
if I have erred. That I may be led in the right 
way is my daily prayer to God; especially as 
I am aware how prone I am, through youth and 
inexperience, to go astray. 

MRS. DORMER. 

In the further prosecution of our itiquiry into 
the conduct which Christian believers are obliged 
to observe with respect to worldly connections, 
I must beg leave to premise, that I do not plead 
for any immoral practices, nor for the devotion 
of too much time to any amusements whatever. 
I allow also that the playhouse is a sink of 
impurity, and a school of proluheness ; ^ and 
acknowledge that some persons wbste tob much 
time in friendly visits. I do not, however, see 
any harm in taking a cup of tea occasionally 

^ See note F. in Appendix. 



CONFORBtitT TO THE WORLD. 2? 

with my neighbours, though they do not think 
with me On religioilB matters ; nor that any evil 
can result to tne from such intercourse with 
them. And if a card-table on these occasions 
be introd needy a song, or a dance proposed 
(though I Neither play cards, sing, not dance 
myself), my conscience is not rendered uneasy 
thereby ; nor do I feel myself under any neces- 
sity of shortening my visit, or declining a repeti- 
tion of it. I do not petreive any breach of the 
divine law, nor any thing contrary to the spirit 
of a Christian^ in an occasional concurrence with 
these innocent amusements. 



MISS NEWMAN. 

With all due deference to your superior age 
and judgment, I must beg leave to say, that 
I differ from you in opinion. For if I were 
obliged to be present where a company of rational 
and immortal beings, standing on the very brink 
of eternity, were so employed (a trial from which, 
I thank God, my father's character and connec- 
tions wholly exempt me), I should be very 



^ 



28 ON THE INCONSISTENCY OF 

miserable. For, believing in a future state, and 
realising the nearness of death and a judgment 
to come, with the truths of Scripture before my 
eyes, could I contemplate the situation of such 
triflers with the precious season of probation for 
eternity, without feeling the most pungent appre- 
hensions On their account ? The pain, which a 
conviction of their danger must produce, would 
surely prove a bar to all enjoyment ; even though, 
through the necessity of the case, I should feel 
no guilt arising from my own presence in such 
a scene of folly. Either I must^ on such an 
occasion, have the moments embittered by a 
sight of my fellow-creatures standing on the 
brink of the grave without any regard to eter- 
nity or the needful preparation for it ; or I must 
sink into the same spirit of inconsideration and 
levity with them. Either alternative is most 
anxiously to be avoided. — The general opinion, 
my dear madam, of the Lord's people is to be 
treated with respect, and not to be rejected 
without very full proof of its fallacy. Now you 
know that the concurring voice of those who 
have been most eminent for their attachment to 



CONFORMITY TO THE WORLD. 29 

the cause of Christ, has borae an united testi- 
mony against these recreations. You know also 
that many an humble child of God is grieved to 
hear of a fellow-professor, who yields to the 
practice of them. And surely, if no inconsis- 
tency with the Christian character were thereto 
annexed, the determination of St. Paul in 
another case may well be imitated by us in this ; 
I will eaty says he, no Jlesh while the world 
standethy if thereby I make my brother to offends 
This apostolic resolution was an instance of real 
self-denial; but an abstinence from the things 
you have mentioned as innocent, in order to 
avoid offending the weakest of Christ's flock, 
even supposing that their views originate in pre- 
judice, can hardly be dignified with the same 
appellation. < 

MRS. DORMER. 

But the advocates of innocent amusements, 
as they are called, will still ask, with a tone of 
the utmost confidence in the goodness of their 

' 1 Cor. viii. 13. ^ See also Matt, xviii, 6. 



30 ON THE INCONSISTENCY OF 

Cfiuse, " What harm is there in them ? Are 
they apy where prohibited in the divine law ? 
And i£ not, must pot a refusal of joining in 
them be the effect of sanctimonious pride ? " 



MISS NEWMAN. 

These, and other such like questions, on 
account of the frequency of their proposal, the 
plausibility of their appearance, and the air of 
importance with whjch they are brought forward, 
require an explicit reply, though their futility 
would otherwise consign them to conten^pt. 



MRS. DORMER. 

Do let me hear what can be said in answer to 
them ; for I own I am at a loss to conjecture. 
What harm, for instance, can there be in the 
exercise, or diversion, of dancing, and where is 
it forbidden ? 



CONFORMITY TO THE WORLD. 31 

MISS NEWMAN. 

That the exercise, or diversion, of dancing 
is no sin in itself, is readily acknowledged. 
Action, at proper seasons, and in due naodera- 
tion, is conducive, nay essential, to the health 
of the body. But the frequenters of nocturnal 
balls have no such defence to make ; and their 
practice is as hostile to the health of their 
bodies, as to that of their souls. Many persons 
hav^ been guilty of unintentional suicide, by 
going half-covered with thin attire to a revel, 
called an asseqibly ; and then, in the middle of 
the night, with heated blood and pores opened 
by violent exercise, exposing themselves to the 
damp and chilling air of the winter season. On 
this topic let the physician be consulted, and 
the increase of pulmonary diseases be well con- 
sidered. Leaving the frequent injury of bodily 
health occasioned by these amusements out of 
the question, since no one will urge the promo- 
tion of health as the inducement to them ; we will 
contemplate them in their relation to morals, 
and inquire how far they are conducive to purity 



32 ON THE INCONSISTENCY OF 

of heart and life, or hostile to it ; an inquiry, 
surely, of the highest consequence, since /Aepure 
in heart alone are blessed; and none, without 
this qualification, can see Crod with comfort in 
the great day,* We will admit that the sprightly 
and active sports of children are an irregular 
dance, and that a formal dance of adults is the 
exercise of children reduced to rule ; and that 
neither the one nor the other is in itself^ and in 
its own nature, sinful. But, having admitted 
this, we must ask, since the principle of any 
branch of conduct either hallows or defiles it,-— 
What are the circumstances which produce in 
young people of either sex a love of this amuse- 
ment ? Is not the intercourse of the sexes the 
impelling motive for a fondness for it ? Is not the 
ball-room, or even the scene of a more private 
dance, a place of temptation to an infringement 
of the divine law ? ^ If it be a scene of tempta- 

1 Matt. V. 8. 
^ Before this question is answered, let the seventh com- 
mandment to be compared with our Lord's comment on it, 
Matt. V. 28. The manner in which the apostle has ex- 
pressed his exhortations, 1 Cor. vi. 18. and 2 Tim. ii. 22. 
is worthy of notice. He does not say, Resist " youthfiil 



CONFOaMITY TO THE WORLD. 33 

tioD, could any one, while preparing to attend 
it sincerely and devoutly offer up the Lord's 
prayer? Is not the mode of ornamenting the 
body on such occasions calculated and designed 
to irritate the concupiscential passions of the 
mind ? Can any honest cause be assigned for 
the exuberance of exterior embellishment, and 
the defect of decent clothing, * too generally 
^opted in such places? Is not the desire of 
exhibiting personal beauty, either possessed or 
iiupposed to be possessed, another usual allure- 
ment to this diversion ? And to what does such 
an exhibition naturally tend ? And where nature 
or age denies a claim of admiration on this 
account, do not the decorations of dress supply 
food for vanity and emulation ? And are not 
vanity and emulation sinful emotions ? Is the 
injunction of the apostle,^ That women adorn 
themselves with modest apparel^ with shamefaced^ 
ness and sobriety^ not with broidered hairy or 
goldf or pearlsy or costly array ^ but fas becometh 

lusts," but Flee from them. To parley, is to be overcome : 
wfety can only be insured by flight. 

^ See note G. in Appendix. ^ 1 Tim. ii. 9. 

D 



34 ON THE INCONSISTENCY OF 

women professing godliness J with good works : 
is this ever attended to by persons who frequent 
the assembly-room ? What are the pomps and 
vanities of this wicked world, which we have 
solemnly promised and vowed before God and 
man to renounce, if they are not to be found in 
these circles of dissipation ? Let this question 
be answered under a recollection that the pomps 
and vanities, renounced in our baptismal vow, 
are distinguished from the works of the devil 
and those of the flesh, though too nearly related 
to both.^ — Is it possible that the conversation 
on these occasions should be, as a Christian's 
conversation ought always to be, to the use of 
edifying,^ — But I desist from asking any more 
questions : let these, my dear Mrs. Dormer, be 
seriously weighed, and surely it will appear that 
an attendance on these fashionable assemblies 
is, by an implication of consequences, unlawful ; 
whether a person considers the peril to which 
he exposes himself, or the sanction which his 
presence gives to those scenes which expose 

* See note H. in Appendix. - Eph, iv. 20. Rom. xv. 2. 



CONFORMITY TO THE WORLD. 35 

others to a danger of moral containination. If 
any kind of food were found, by frequent ex- 
periments, to be generally, if not universally 
injurious to the human constitution, it would be 
my duty and interest to avoid that species of 
aliment, even though the whole college of 
physicians had declared that they could dis* 
cover no unwholesome properties in it. 



MRS. DORMER. 

Whatever may be said about balls and as- 
semblies, the same objections cannot- be raised 
against a quiet and friendly game of cards. 

MISS NEWMAN. 

Not exactly the same in all respects; but 
I apprehend that others, equally cogent, may 
without difficulty be started. In the mere act 
of shuffling, cutting, and distributing a set of 
square papers, differently spotted and distin- 
guished, there is certainly no moral evil. * But 

^ How much more rational would be the introduction 

D 2 



36 ON THE INCONSISTEfrCY OF 

t 

is there no contrariety in it to the precept which 
we have received to redeem the time ? * In the 
desire of winning, is there no breach of the 
commandment not to covet any thing that is our 
neighbours^ f ^ From the success of a game, won 
by superior skill, is there no danger of the 
mind's being inflated with pride, while the less 

of a book, or a philosophical apparatus, at our social 
meetings ; if among persons called Christians, or persons 
of any liberal education, conversation can be supposed to 
fail of affording profit and amusement. 

1 Eph. V. 16. 

" Where is that thrift, that avarice of time, 
(O glorious avarice ! ) thought of death inspires, 
As rumour'd robberies endear our gold? 
O Time ! than gold more sacred ; more a load 
Than lead to fools ; and fools reputed wise. 
What moment granted man without account ! 
What years are squandered, wisdom*s debt unpaid ! 
Our wealth in days all due to that discharge. 
Haste, haste, he lies in wait, he's at the door. 
Insidious death ; should his strong arm arrest. 
No composition sets the prisoner free. 
Eternity's inexorable chain 
Fast binds, and vengeance claims the full arrear." 

Vaufiff. 
^ See note I. in Appendix, 



CONFORMITY TO THE WORLD. ' 37 

skilful or less fortunate opponent is subjected to 
irritation by a mortification of his vanity ? The 
interest in the game, necessary to render it an 
amusement, and the fondness which is too gene- 
rally discovered for it, will afford proof that 
these questions are not futile, nor the dangers 
to which they relate chimerical. Is there no 
temptation to emulation^ wrath, or strife,^ the 
proscribed works of the flesh, in a game of 
cards ? Let the countenances of its amateurs, 
while engaged in what is frequently by a mis- 
nomer called amusement, answer the question. 
Can it conduce to the improvement either of the 
body or mind ? Is there nothing degrading to 
the character of one who professes to have his 
treasure in heaven, and his heart there also, as 
every Christian does, in such an employment of 
time and talents ? Above all, is there any man 
living who would consent to be arrested by 
death, at an unexpected and unguarded hour, 
with the cards in his hands ? ^ 

^ Gal. v. 20. James iii. 14 — 16. Where envy and strife is, 
there is cor^fusion and eveiy evil work. 

^ See note K. in Appendix. 



38 ON THE INCONSISTENCY OF 

MRS. DORMER. 

But unless the evil consequences which you 
have described as resulting from the practices 
of dancing and playing cards are necessarily 
produced by them> your argument against them 
will not be concluuve. 



MISS NEWMAN. 

I cannot, my dear Mrs. Dormer, allow the 
truth of your inference : for it is to be observed 
that, in our examination of the lawfulness of 
dancing and card-playing (with which many 
other vain amusements may be connected as im-^ 
plicating the same kind of guilt), we reason on 
the axiom that man is a fallen and corrupted 
creature; that in his natural or unconverted 
state. Every imagination of the thoughts ((f his 
heart is only evil continually;' and that 
This infection of nature doth remain j yea^in them 
that are regenerated^ whereby the lust ofthefiesh 

^ Gen. vi. 5. 



CONFORMITY TO THE WORLD. d[) 



■ " is not subject to the law of God ; and 

that concupiscence and lust hath of itself the 
nature of sin. ' From hence it appears that the 
aeed of every vile affection is in the heart of 
every one ; which needs only to be watered by 
temptation, in order to occasion the production 
of it» baneful fruits. That man has no proper 
acquaintance with his own heart, nor with the 
doctrines of the Bible, who does not know by 
painful experience that his fallen heart is as in- 
flammable as tinder, when it is brought into 
contact with the weakest spark of temptation. 
And, if this be admitted, the unlawfulness of 
those scenes of vanity which have been mention- 
ed, will be incontrovertible ; for to run needlessly 
into temptaticHi (and there can be no necessary 
call to visit the ball-room or the card-table) is 
directly contrary to the gracious command of 
our blessed Lord, Watch and pray^ that ye enter 
nai into temptation ; ^ and to that of St. Paul, 
See thai ye walk circumspectly^ or warily. The 
people of the world, indeed, are like persons 

1 IXth Article of the Church of England. 
- Matt. xxvi. 41. ^ Eph. v. 15. 



40 ON THE INCONSISTENCY OF 

vrtko walk about id their sleep, unconscious of 
danger. Most pitiable state ! But a Christian 
is awakened out of his sleep ; and is supposed 
to be alive to the dangers of the road in which 
he is to walk, to the importance of his journey, 
and to the necessity of circumspection and a 
constant attention to the means of self- preser- 
vation in pursuing it. To expose my bodily 
life to any risk, without a necessity, or some 
equivalent advantage to be attained by it (even 
though a moiety of those who had before made 
the experiment had escaped unhurt,) would be 
very culpable, and a species of suicide : and, 
surely, as the wages of sin is eternal deaths ' any 
needless exposure of myself to that which is more 
to be dreaded than the fracture of every bone in 
my body, must be far more culpable and inex- 
cusable. — Can you suppose, my dear madam, 
that either our Lord or his apostles ever prac- 
tised these or such like things ; or that, if they 
were now on earth, they would do so ? And is 
not their example a model for our conduct ? 

* Rom. vi. 23. 



CONFORMITY TO THE WORLD. 41 

Can we err in imitating them ? May we ftot 
err in these instances of non-conformity to the 
copy which they have set us ? ' 



MRS. DORMER. 

But I know, my dear Ann, many persons 
whom you will consider to be real and exem- 
plary Chiistians ; who, though indeed they do 
uot participate in the amusements I have men- 
tioned, yet occasionally keep worldly company. 

MISS NEWMAN. 

Do the persons, Mrs. Dormer, whom you 
mention, voluntarily make choice of worldly as- 
sociates ? It is readily admitted, that it is, in 
many cases, impossible to avoid some intercourse 
with the world. Our relatives and acquaint- 
ances are many of them in an unconverted state : 
to shun their company altogether is neither 
feasible nor desirable. But do you not suppose 

* See note L. in Appendix. 



42 ON THE INCONSISTENCY OF 

that these excellent persons would, if duty and 
Christian affection did not induce them to regard 
such connections, prefer the conversation of 
spiritual friends ? In their interviews do they 
not wish, and try, on proper occasions, to intro- 
duce some remarks which may be profitable? 
Do they not bear a frequent and pointed tes- 
timony against the evil they are obliged at any 
time to witness ? Such an intercourse with the 
world as that you have now specified, appears 
to me to differ widely from that voluntary 
association with it, which is formed for no other 
purpose than that of squandering time in idle 
chat or trifling amusements. In the one case, 
a sense of duty to God and man, and a hope 
of being useful to others, are the impelling 
motives: and, in the other, worldly society is 
sought qfter^ for no other reason than the plea- 
sure which is expected from it. And surely 
an expectation of pleasure from such a source 
argues, at least, a very low degree of spirituality 
in the mind, if not a total ignorance of those 
higher satisfactions which flow from religion. 



CONFORMITY TO TUB WORLD. 43 

MRS. DORMER. 

If thete persons associate with the world with 
a view to the spiritual benefit of their acquaint- 
ance; why may it not charitably be supposed 
that Mrs. Philmund and myself are influenced 
by the same motive ? 

MISS NEWMAN. 

It would ill become me» madam, to make 
myself a censor of your conduct. But, under 
similar circumstances, I think I should feel 
myself obliged to catechise my own conscience 
very closely as to its motives. I should be 
bound to ask myself, — ^ Is the glory of God 
the supreme and governing principle on which 
I act in this step ? > Is it with a predominant 
desire of promoting the conversion of my 
neighbours, and with a firm resolution of at- 
tempting it, that I go into their company ? 
Do I not deceive myself in these points ; and, 
while the unhallowed pleasure derivable from 
^ See note M. in Appendix. 



44 ON THE INCONSISTENCY OP 

their society is the real cause of my seeking 
it, do I not make the idea of profiting them 
a mere pretence for carnal gratification ? Have 
I made any effort to diffuse the savour of re- 
ligion on these occasions ? Have I been able 
to reprove sin in the face of a large company ; 
or has not my sinful silence rather sanctioned 
its commission ? Let me clearly determine 
these points before I again venture into such 
company, unless duty evidently calls me there- 
into.' Must not all, Mrs. Dormer, who mingle 
much with the world, frequently hear the 
blessed name of God taken in vain ? Is not 
that which is essential to real godliness, ridi- 
culed as needless scrupulosity in most worldly 
companies ? Are not the comforts of Christi- 
anity treated as enthusiastic dreams ? Are not 
the most important doctrines of the glorious 
Gospel sneered at as methodistical whims ? ^ 
Are not the characters of Christ's disciples 
defamed, and idle tales injurious to their repu- 
tation received and propagated with delight } 
And are not the most faithful and upright 
* See note N. in Appendix. 



^ CONFORMITY TO THE WORLD. 45 

ministers of Christ often treated, in these assem- 
hlies of the' gay and fashionable world, with the 
utmost contempt ? Now can any truly Chris- 
tian person conscientiously listen to such things 
without reproving them ? Or would he expose 
himself to the torment of the rack, which such 
conversation must occasion within him, without 
the most urgent necessity ? 

MRS. DORMER. 

I have frequently been in large companies 
of worldly people, where no outrage on decency 
has been committed : for such conversation as 
that which you have mentioned, is a gross 
violation of good manners. I must, however, 
admit that these topics, in defiance of the laws 
of politeness, are not uncommon. 

MISS NEWMAN. 

> Then, madam, you allow that, when you place 
yourself in the company of worldly people, you 
have no security from the introduction of those 



46 ON THE INCONSISTENCY OF 

things which must be grievous to a pious mind. 
Indeed I cannot conceive how one who loves our 
Lord Jesus Christ in sincerity, if unavoidably 
thrust into the way of hearing his name, charac- 
ter, doctrines, ministers, or people blasphemed, 
can possibly continue a silent auditor thereof: 
surely such a one must either testify his abhor-> 
rence by leaving the party, or by a bold defence 
of the truth. For he will remember, that Who- 
soever is ashamed of Christ and of his words 
before men, of him will Christ be ashamed, when 
he cometh in the glory of his Father with his holy 
angels. Now I consider, my dear Mrs. Dormer^ 
that, if a Christian were to act faithfully in 
worldly company, to manifest the spirit of his 
Christian profession, to introduce conversation 
on the subject of vital godliness, and to demean 
himself as one who has the glory of God and the 
eternal welfare of his acquaintance uppermost 
in his mind ; much trouble would not be neces- 
sary to extricate himself from worldly con- 
nections ; for they would be as glad to drop all 
fellowship with him, as he would be to break off 
his intercourse with them. 



CONFORMITY TO THE WORLD. 4? 

MRS. DORMER. 

In there, then, no neutral ground on which 
the Christian and the world can meet ? 



MISS NEWMAN. 

Yes ; for the conduct of worldly business, 
and the reciprocation of the civilities of life; 
but not, as I conceive, for the derivation of 
mutual satisfaction. An austere moroseness 
of spirit and sanctimonious pride are as incon- 
sistent with a Christian spirit, as the levities 
of carnal pleasure ; but what concord can there 
be between Christ and Belial ? Every Chris- 
tian believer's heart is the temple of God ; every 
unconverted heart is a temple of idols. In what 
can these concur ? A careless sinner, from his 
indifference to all eternal concerns, may con- 
sent to leave religion out of sight in his social 
interviews, for the purpose of inducing a serious 
neighbour to visit him ; and may, by a mis- 
nomer, dignify that indifference with the appel- 
lation of candour or charity. But could a 



48 ON THE INCONSISTENCY OF 

Christian consent to meet him on these terms 
of communion ? Surely not. And I am moreover 
convinced that, if such terms of communion 
were made and adhered to, the gravity of a 
genuine Christian, the seriousness of his aspect, 
his want of taste for worldly vanities, his wrink- 
led brow at the commission of sin, and his sighs 
occasioned by the objects of pity that sur- 
rounded him, would become in a short time, 
without any other language, so offensive to a 
worldly mind as to be intolerable. A truly 
Christian spirit must prove such a reproach to 
an ungodly man, and such a bar to the ebulli- 
tions of the carnal mind, that fire and water 
may as easily coalesce, as the spirit of the world 
and the spirit of God. How can two walk 
together except they be agreed ? 

MISS DORMER. 

But did not our blessed Lord accept several 
invitations to the houses of unawakened sinners ? 
Was he not present at several feasts ? Was it 
not truly said of him, that he ate and drank 



CONFORMITY TO THE WORLD. 4^ 

with publicans and sinners f And may not his 
digciples follow his example ? 



MISS NEWMAN. 

All tins is justly stated. And if we can go 
into similar society for similar purposes, our 
conduct may be justified by his example. But 
in this case we shall certainly meet with the 
same treatment which he experienced. You 
cannot suppose, my dear madam, that our Lord 
ever sought such company on account of any 
correspondence between his spirit and theirs, or 
of any pleasure he expected to derive from their 
conversation and ways. — No; He came to seek 
thai which was lost : and this, in union with his 
Father's glory, was the constant motive of his 
conduct. And, accordingly, we always find 
him, on those occasions, engaged in the prosecu- 
tion of the great work of his mission ; and his 
conversation generally produced either the spi- 
ritual benefit of his associates, or their bitter 
enmity and opposition. I need not refer you 
to particular instances. An exemplification W 

E 



50 ON THE INCONSISTENCY OF 

his spirit in our conduct will assuredly draw 
on usy in spite of the most polite behaviour, and 
the most courteous and gentle manners, a por- 
tion of the same enmity. And the more we 
resemble our blessed Lord in heavenly-roinded- 
ness, the more we shall resemble him also as 
despised and rejected of men. It is the unsancti- 
fied part of a Christian's character, in which the 
world finds any attraction. 

MRS. DORMER. 

Still, Miss Newman, I am not convinced, that 
the things which have been the subject of 
our friendly debate, are not of so indifferent a 
nature, that every one may follow the bias of 
his own inclination respecting them without 
incurring guilt.* 

MISS NEWMAN. 

Nothing, Mrs. Dormer, but the fullest con- 
viction, of my own mind could indnce me to 
tontinue th^. conveibation., a moment longer. 



CONFORMITY TO THE WORLD. 51 

Bat the truth of those views which I have 
espoused appears to me as clear as the noon- 
day.— We will suppose that you and Mrs. 
Philmund are invited to a rout, likely to be 
conducted in the most inoffensive manner 
possible in such assemblies. You determine to 
accept the invitation. Could you, permit me 
to ask, in the prospect of the evening's engage- 
ment, fall on your knees and say, ^ Lord, the 
promotion of thy glory is my supreme object 
in the employment of my precious time this 
evening;^ and I implore thy grace, that my 
object may be thereby attained. Though the 
scene into which I am going, is full of tempta- 
tion to levity, to the love of the pomps and 
vanities of life which in my baptism I have 
renounced, and to a forgetfulness of thee ; yet^ 
as I have not thrust myself into it, but merely 
attend in compliance with custom and politeness, 
i am encouraged and entitled by thy promises^ 

^ See note O. in Appendix. 
2 Psalm Ixvi. 18. !fl regard iniquity in my hearty the 
Lord toiU not hear me. May we not often trace our com- 
plaints of ill success in our prayers to this cause? Let 

E 2 



52 ON THE INCONSISTENCY OF 

to expect thy preserving and sanctifying pre- 
sence therein. Let my heart, therefore, O Lord, 
be occupied in the contemplation of those 
pleasures which are at thy right hand. Let my 
meditation of thee be sweet; and let me be 
meetened by this engagement for thy service 
here and thy glory hereafter." — Does not the 
mind, madam, recoil from the use of such a 
prayer, under such circumstances ? And yet. 
Whether we eat or drink, or whatever we do, we 
are to do all to the glory of God. In every things' 
by prayer and. supplication, our requests are to 
be made known unto God. And it is a just 
criterion of -duty, that whatever step precludes 
the propriety of prayer in reference to it, is 
unlawful for a Christian to take. We will sup-' 
pose farther, that being seated in the circle 

the case of Israel at Ai, Joshua vii. II — 13, be well con- 
sidered. If we do not prosper in our souls ; if our prayers' 
be unanswered; if our attendance on ordinances be un-* 
profitable ; it behoves us to examine the state of our 
hearts and inquire if there be not some accursed thing 
there, which deprives us of those blessings, which our 
faithful God has promised to bestow on those who sincerely 
seek his favour. 




CONFORMITY TO THE WORLD. 53 

of gaiety, you are seized with sensations which 
seem to you to indicate approaching death. 
Would there appear to be no unsuitableness in 
your situation, employment, and the temper 
which must prevail in every bosom that can 
relish such a scene, to the solemnities of a dying 
moment f Did you ever find (for I speak to 
you as one that possesses an acquaintance with 
vital religion), did you ever find, during such 
an interview, the spintuality of your mind 
(I will not say increased but) maintmned in a 
state of vigour and without diminution ? After 
the termination of such an entertainment, as 
your soul been in a proper frame for family — 
or private worship ? Have not the personal 
decorations, deemed necessary on such occasions, 
a tendency to induce a spirit of vanity, totally 
inconsistent with the original design of clothing, 
which was to cover our shame ? Might not the 
time, devoted to the rout and a preparation for 
it, have been more usefully spent ? These and 
such like questions will enable us, my dear 
madam, to decide the question oontroverted 
between us. . . 



54 ON THE INCONSISTENCY OP 

MRS. DORMER. 

I must own that these questions seem to 
discover the impropriety of all unnecessary mix- 
ture with worldly company ; especially on those 
occasnons which are particularly set apart by 
them for idle amusement. But may not such 
intercourse with them have a tendency to con- 
ciliate their afiections towards the people of 
God, to take off the edge of prejudice, and to 
pave the way for other opportunities of being 
useful to them, either by private conversation in 
a more serious moment, or by bringing them 
under the means of grace ? 

MISS NEWMAN. 

To do evil that good nuxy come, is never 
lawful. That which is necessarily injurious to 
the seriousness and spirituality of my own mind, 
cannot be required of me by the word of Qod, 
any more than 1 can be therein enjoined to take 
slow poison to the destruction of my bodily 
health. Any sinful compliances which the peo- 



COHFORMITT TO THB W0RLD. 55 

pie of God make with the customs and way^ of 
the world, so far from being calculated to do 
good, are the sources of inconceivable injury to 
the cause of God and the success of his Gospel. 
You know, I tlunk, Mr. and Mrs. Luscus, who 
for some time past have attended on the means 
of gnioBf and assumed a profession of godli- 
ness. I believe they are indeed gracious people. 
Bat, in consequence of a connection with some 
worldly persons of rank and fortune, they have 
lately been drawn into some of their parties. 
What has been the result ? Why, these very 
persons have made Mr. and Mrs. Luscus's 
compliance a ground for sneering at religion, 
while they have triumphed in the success of 
their schemes. The consciences of their sedu- 
cers are thereby lulled faster asleep in the 
arms of their Delilah, sinful pleasure, and thar 
hearts more hardened against the truth than 
before. If we work for God, we must work 
with his tools and not with those of his enemy 
and ours. If we pursue the most lawful and 
deniable object by unlawful means, we have 



56 ON THE INCONSISTENCY OF 

no ground to expect success, and shall certainly 
suffer loss thereby. 



MRS. DORMER. 

My dear Ann, God has endued you with 
wisdom and experience far beyond what is 
usually to be found in persons of your age. 
I feel my own inferiority, my unfaithfulness 
to my profession, and a keen remorse in the 
recollection of what is past. Though we are 
now interrupted, and I am obliged to attend to 
the concerns of my &mily ; I hope you will 
call again in a day or two, as I want to hear 
more from you on this subject. In the mean 
while pray for me, that these salutary convic- 
tions may not wear off. Promise me that you 
will come soon. 



MISS NEWMAN. 

(Blushing.) My dear madam, 1 am covered 
with shame at the recollection of the free manner 



CONFORMITY TO THE WORLD. 67 

in which I have been talking to you. Do par- 
don me, if I have said any thing wrong. If I 
have been too bold add assuming, let my motive 
plead my excuse. 



MRS. DORMER. 

You will call soon. 

MISS NEWMAN. 

I shall deem it a favour and a privilege to 
call on you. Good morning, madam. 

MRS. DORMER. 

Good morning, my dear young monitor ; — 
Good morning. Miss Eliza. My best respects 
to your worthy parents. 



58 ON THE INCONSISTENCY OF 



Mrs. Dormer finding her mind to be mach 
affected by her last conversation with Miss 
Newman^ could not be satisfied without a 
further conference with her on the important 
subject which had engaged their attention. On 
the following day, therefore, she called on Miss 
Newman, and after the usual introductory in- 
quiries thus addressed her. 



COimRMITT TO THE WORLD. 59 



DIALOGUE IIL 



MR8. DORMER. 

Mt dear Ann, I am come to thank you for 
the light which your cooversatioa has afforded 
me on the yery important topic, which, in our 
late interview, has engaged our attention. It 
has convinced me, that the conformity to the 
world which prevails among many professing 
Christians, is both injurious to themselves, and 
dishonourable to the cause of God. For it must 
necessarily prove a great obstacle to the growth 
of the soul in the divine life ; and it seems to be 
equivalent to a declaration, as impious as it is 
ials^ that it is not in the power of Christianity 
to fill up the time, and satisfy the minds of its 



60 ON THE INCONSISTENCY OP 

votaries, by affording them sufficient employ- 
ment and delight, without a recourse to the 
world for an additional suppl}^ And I am 
determined, through grace, to seek a// my 
comfort henceforth in the ways of religion, to 
leave the broken cisterns, to which I have re- 
paired with constant disappointment, and to fix 
my station at the side of the fountain of living 
water. This occasions a desire, that some of my 
friends, especially Mrs. Philmund, who (I fear) 
have hitherto acted the same foolish part with 
myself, could view things as T now view them ; 
and I am resolved to expostulate with them on 
the subject. But it is indeed so new to me, that 
I feel incompetent to enter on this task without 
further assistance ; and I am come to beg a 
little more conversation with you about it. 



MISS NEWMAN. 

My dear madam, while I rejoice in every* 
thing that is likely to prove conducive to youf 
happiness here or hereafter, and in every fresh 
instance of his favour, which God bestows on 



CON-FORMITY TO THE WORLD. 6l 

you ; I am confoundal that you should think 
me capable of afiPordiog you any assistance in 
the good work in which you have resolved to 
engage. I am a poor casuist, and unable, 
without a constant derivation of light and 
strength from above, to take one step aright 
in the path of my own duty. I am a mere 
child in spiritual experience, and know very 
little of God or his will. I wish therefore that 
you would apply, if you need information, to 
some older Christian. 

MRS. DORMER. 

I will not distress you, my dear friend, with 
compliments. But if you will allow me to ask 
you a few questions, I will promise that, if your 
solutions should not satisfy me, I will seek 
iturther instruction. 

MISS NEWMAN. 

I cannot refuse to answer any questions which 
Mrs. Dormer may propose, and which it may be 
in my power to solve. 



62 ON THE INCaNSISTENCT OF 

MRS. DORMER. 

Well then, without further circumlocution, 1 
want to know what the Scripture says on the 
subject of our late conferences and to be fur« 
nished for the engagement from the armoury 
of heaven. Can you recollect any passages 
which indicate a Christian's duty with respect 
to the world, its society, its amusements, and 
customs ? 



MISS NEWMAN. 

I have, at different times, and especially since 
we have conversed on this subject, marked some 
passages which have struck me, in my daily 
reading of the Scriptures; and which appear^ 
to me precisely and definitely to determine a^ 
Christian's duty in this respect. 

MRS. DORMER. 

Do direct me to some of them. 



CONFOBMITT TO THE WORLD. 6d 

MISS NEWMAN. 

That 1 will do with pleasure. (Takes her 
Bible €md opens it. J The first passage on which 
I have opened»as marked in the course of my 
reading) is Rom. xii. 2, which is full to our pur- 
pose : Be not conformed to this worlds but be ye 
transformed by the renewing of your mmd^ that 
ye may proved what is that good and acceptable 
and perfect will of God. 

MRS. DORMER. 

This passage is certainly in point; but it 

* An experimental acquaintance with the excellency 
of religion (such as is implied in the word loKtfAo^eiw 
to €iS9ay, as refiners do metals by fire) is exclusively attain- 
able by those who obey its precepts. " If any man v^ill 
do his will he shall know of the doctrine, whether it be 
of God, or whether I speak of myself." John vii. 17. 
If conformists to the world therefore complain, that they 
have not found in the Gospel of Christ that which they 
had been instructed to expect from it, the complaint is 
accounted for; and can^-occasion no surprise to genuine 
disciples, nor refiect any disgrace on the promises and 
declarations of Scripture. 



64 ON THE INCONSISTENCY OF 

will be said, in answer to the inferences which 
are deducible from it, that some conformity to 
the world, while we are in it, is absolutely 
necessary. As for instance : The people of the 
world eat and drink ; we must do the same, or 
be guilty of suicide by starving ourselves : they 
wear clothing ; we must do the same for de- 
cency's sake. Can any line be drawn between 
those acts of conformity to its manners which 
are lawful and proper, smd those which are 
prohibited ? 

MISS NEWMAN. 

A general rule is laid down in a passage to 
which, if I mistake not, I referred in our last 
conversation ; I mean 1 Cor. x. 31. Whatsoever 
steps we can take, with the design and expecta- 
tion of promoting the glory of God thereby, 
are certainly justifiable ; and, on the other hand, 
no act, in which this object cannot be proposed 
to the mind, is proper for one whose members ar^ 
to be instruments of righteousness unto God.^ 

^ See note P. in Appendix. 



CONFORMITY TO THE WORLD. 65 

MRS. DORMER. 

Still much is left by this defiDition of duty 
to the decision of private judgment, with respect 
to particular circumstances of our conduct. 

MISS NEWMAN. 

Certainly it is so, and it was impossible that 
it should be otherwise; for if the Scripture 
had minutely described every step, which a 
Christian believer might lawfully take, and every 
act which it is his duty to avoid, in the ever- 
varying situations of mankind, ^^ even the world 
itself" as St. John speaks with reference to 
another subject, would ^< not have been able to 
contain the books that must have been written.'* 
But the rule, properly applied, is (I think) 
sufficiently clear for the solution of all doubts. 
And if in any case, through a want of skill 
in applying the rule, any doubt should remain 
on the mind respecting the lawfulness or expe.* 
diency of any step proposed, it is clearly our 
duty to refrain from that which is doubtful. 

F 



66 ON THE INCONSISTENCY OP 

For here St. Paul's canon, respecting the use 
of things indififerent (introduced with regard to 
the alternative of eating or not eating flesh), is 
plain and positive : He thai doubteth is con^ 
demned if he eaty because he eateth not of faith ; 
for whatever is not of faith is sin. Rom. xiv. 23. 

MRS. DORMER. 

This is certainly j ust ; but do see to what 
your next index points. What does our infalli- 
ble guide say particularly about worldly com- 
pany ? It seems impossible wholly to avoid it. 
And as it is impossible, so it would be inexpe- 
dient; for then many opportunities of being 
useful must inevitably be lost. 

MISS NEWMAN. 

Let then my next reference be weighed, which 
is to 2 Cor. vi. 14 — 18. Be ye not unequalfy 
yoked together with unbelievers ; for what felloW'^ 
ship hath righteousness with unrighteousness? 
And what communion hath light with darkness ? 



CONFORMITY TO THE WORLD. 6? 

And what concord hath Christ with Belial ? Or 
what part hath he that believeth with an infidel f 
And what ' agreement hath the temple of God 
with idols ? For ye are the temple of the living 
God, as God hath said, I will dwell in them, and 
walk in them, and I will be their Godj and they 
shall he- my people. Wherefore come out from 
among them, and he ye separate,^ saith the Lord, 
and touch not the unclean thing; and I will 
receive you, and will be a Father unto you, and 
ye shall be my sons and daughters, saith the Lord 
Almighty* 

MRS. DORMER. 

Does not this passage refer to the conjugal 

^ This is a quotation from Isaiah, lii. 11, on which the 
excellent Vitringa comments thus: ** Horum vero punfi- 
catio, et spiritualis separatio in eo consisteret, ut se per 
gratiam Spiritus S. ab omni affectu camali penitus purga- 
rent, et se Deo, sacerdotum ac Levitarum instar, (in qui- 
bus, a Deo ad opus sacrum secretis, exactissima requirebatur 
puritas) totos devoverent ac consecrarent, Ohliti domus 
pcUema, et non retrospicientes €^ r^ ovta-a ad ea qua 
a tergo sunt; et quas sibi olim lucro deputaverantf nunc 
damna censerent** 

F 2 



68 ON THE INCONSISTENCY OF 

union, and prescribe, in common with other 
similar directions, that a Christian man or 
woman may marry only in the Lord."^ i. e. a 
fellow Christian ? 



MISS NEWMAN. 

That it relates to the marriage union, as the 
most intimate of all friendships, is evident. . Bat 
it likewise refers to every instance of close 
association whatever : for the terms, fellowship^ 
communion^ concord^ participation, a^reementy 
which the Apostle has used in the foregoing 
animated interrogatories for the purpose of 
showing the absurdity of attempting to recon- 
cile two opposite points, certainly require an 
interpretation which extends to all human con- 
nections. The spirit of a man of God, and that 
of a man. of the world, are like two parallel 
lines, which, though extended to an infinite 
length, can never unite. As far as the east is 
from the west, so far distant is God from Mam- 
mon. They resemble two opposite points of the 

4 1 Cor. vii. 39. 




CONFORMITY TO TUB WORLD. 69 

compass, which can never be brought into con- 
tact« 



MRS. DORMER. 

But as some intercourse with the world is 
allowed to be both lawful and expedient ; how 
may I determine the limits which are thereto 
assigned, and thus be free from the danger of 
turning either to the right hand or to the left 
from the path of duty ? 

MISS NEWMAN. 

An illustration of our duty in this respect 
strikes my mind, which I will lay before you* 
The rule of duty must be a general one, be- 
cause the circumstances of the Lord's people 
differ so widely. — We will suppose then, for the 
sake of illustration, that a man is engaged ip a 
journey to a distant place ; on the termination of 
which, by his arrival at his point of destination, 
depends the acquisition of an estate immensely 
valuable. He meets on the road an acquaintance. 



70 ON THE INCONSISTENCY OF 

who endearoure to stop him, by requesting to 
be favoured with his conversation for a little 
while ;> which might occasion a pause in their 
respective journeys, or cause, by accompanying 
him for a short space, a retrograde motion. 
The first-mentioned traveller, with his eye and 
his heart on his journey's end, would naturally 
say, ** My progress is of so much moment, and 
so much depends on the diligent use of the few 
precious moments of day-light that remain to 
me, in hastening to the object I have in view, 
that it is impossible for me to stop and talk with 
you on the road ; and much more to increase 
the risk of a failure in my aim by returning 
with you a single step ; if you will come with 
me, come on ; and I shall be glad of your com- 
pftoy. Be quick in your decision, for my time 
is short, and valuable, beyond all calculation.'' 
Now this conduct in the supposed case approves 
itself at once to the mind* Let us therefore 
apply it to the subject of our inquiry. There 
are two roads, as we learn from our blessed Lord,^ 
in which, though tending to different pmnts, the 

1 Matt. vii. 13, 14, 



CONFoaMITY TO THE WOBLD. 7\ 

travellen are witluD sight and hearing of each 
other. The one, broad and thronged with mol- 
titodesy kadeth to destruction ; the other, mir- 
row and trodden only by a few passengers scat- 
tered here and there upon it, leadeth to life. In 
the former all unconverted persons are walking ; 
the latter is the path in which Christian believers 
ate moving. In every stage of the latter the 
voice of a kind monitor* is continually heard, or 
may be heard, by every pilgrim Zion-wards; 
crying with the utmost earnestness of persua^ 
tion, Gojbrward / And, pointing with his out- 
stretched hand (aa the palm^ of which love 
has been inscribed in indelible characters by 
the point of a nail with which it was once 
pierced) to a distant and elevated spot, he 
adds. Escape for thff l\fe ; look not behind thee, 
neither stay thou in all the pkdn ; escape to the 
mountain^ lest thou be consumed. While the 

^ How beautiful a metaphor is that which we find in 
Isaiah xliz. 16, where God, speaking of his church, under 
the common emblem of a city, says, " Behold, I have 
graven thee upon the palms of my hands." Ought not his 
name to be graven on our hearts, and bis honour to be 
dearer to us even than life itself 7 



73 ON THE INCONSISTENCY OF 

pilgrim is obejing the admonition, his attention 

is arrested by a call from the opposite road, 

wherein he perceives an acquaintance who 

beckons to him to stop that he may enjoy a 

little of his conversation, and to pass over the 

space which separates the two roads from each 

other. The duty of the pilgprim has already 

been described ; and, if it had not, no doubt 

could exist about it If he can, without losing 

time, persuade his acquaintance to join him in 

bis own road, it will be his duty to admit him 

to his society. But, if his acquaintance refuse 

to accompany him ; no concession on his part 

must be made, as it would be a positive act 

of disobedience to the express command he has 

received. His duty is clear: he must press 

toward the mark /or the prize of the high catting 

of God in Christ Jesus ;'^ closely stopping his 

^ Phil. iii. 14. A beautiful allusion to the Olympic 
games, in which the prize to be contended for was placed 
in an elevated situation, that the competitors in the race 
might be animated to exertion by the sight of it. The 
high calling, or calling from above, seems to allude to the 
proclamation which was made before the commencement 
of the games, in which an invitation to contend in them 



CONFORMITY TO THB WORLD. 73 

ears against every solicitation, which carnal 
reason may suggest to the contrary. 



MRS. DORMER. 

Your illustration diffuses much light on the 
subject of our discussion. But shall we not, 
by adhering rigidly to such a line of conduct 
as that which it prescribes, incur the charge 
of singularity, expose ourselves to contempt, and 
injure the cause of truth, by bringing general 
ridicule on our religious profession ? 

MISS NEWMAN. 

Ridicule is not the test of truth. You know, 
my dear madam, that there is nothing, however 
sacred and true, which has not been attacked by 
this dangerous weapon. Let us remember, that 
a candle diffusing light through a dark room, 
cannot be hid ; ^ and that singularity, and an 

was given, the prize described, and the rules of the combat 
proposed. With this proclamation the promulgation of the 
Gospel corresponds in its design. ' Matt. v. 15. 



74 ON THE IKCON8ISTBNCT OF 

exposure to observatioii, are inseparably con-* 
nected with the metaphor, by which our Lord 
has exhibited the duty of his followers, and their 
office in the world. By endeavouring to avoid 
that singularity which a holy life necessarily 
produces, we are attempting to put our candle 
under a bushel^ and deprive ourselves of the 
honour attached to our profession, by letting 
our Hght skme be/ore men, so that they may see 
our good works, and glorify our Father which i$ 
m heaven. There is, indeed, a needless scrupu- 
losity, which ought to be avoided with great 
care; because the world's vulture-like eye, 
discovering such an effect of an ill-informed 
conscience, will be pleased with an opportunity 
of confounding things indifferent with things 
criminal, for the purpose of self-justification in 
the practice of the latter. It is, however, at the 
same time, to be observed, that a Christian's 
chief danger arises from things in themselvea 
lawful* For his mind would revolt at the 
proposal of any thing directly opposite to the 
revealed will of God ; his fears would be thereby 
excited ; and he would exclaim with Joseph, 



CONFORMITT TO THE WORLD. 75 

How eon I do this great wickedness, and sm 
against God I ^ But when things in themselves 
indifferent, and which are only criminal, either 
hj excess in the indulgence of them, or some 
effects which usually arise out of them, are 
proposed ; the Christian is in danger of sliding 
insensibly forward towards the margin of the 
ice on which he has incautiously rentured, till 
it becomes too thin to bear his weight ; and he 
unks, before he is aware, into the waters of keen 
remorse* It is a self-evident truth, never to be 
forgotten by us, that the partition between that 
which is lawful and that which is unlawful, 
is so slight, as to make little or no resistance to 
any one who has foolishly proceeded to the 
utmost bounds of the former. The limit be- 
tween obedience and transgression, virtue and 
vice, is only an hair's breadth in extent, and 
may imperceptibly be stepped over. Between 
a solid basis for the feet on the edge of a 
precipice, and the termination of the cliff, the 
distance is so small, as to be alarming to every 
one who has the use of his eyes. Who that is 

^ Gen. xxxix. 9. 



76 ON THB INCONSISTENCY OF 

wise, would venture to the utmost extremity; 
lest he should be seized with a giddiness, or 
take one fatal step too far, and so plunge him- 
self by his temerity into danger of destruction, 
in which fractured bones form the least object 
of apprehension ? Can they who frequent the 
assemblies of the gay and dissipated sons and 
daughters of worldly pleasure, who visit the 
play-house, the ball-room, or the route, &c. &c. 
while they make a profession of Christianity; 
Can they, I say, believe, what they profess to 
feel daily, that there is an enemy within their 
own bosoms, the carnal mind, which is always 
ready to yield to every temptation, and to side 
' with every seductive influence from without ?> 
Would the commander of a^ besieged town, if he 
knew that there was a large party of disaffected 
persons within the walls, suffer frequent parleys 
to take place between the rebellious subjects 
and the hostile troops without ? And if he were 
to permit so dangerous an intercourse; would 
he not be justly chargeable with supineness, a 

vicious carelessness, a want of vigilance, or an 

» 
1 See note Q. in Appendix. 



CONFORMITY TO THE WORLD. 7? 

overweening confidence in the safety of the 
place ? And would he not be liable to be called 
to an account by his prince, whenever the event, 
naturally to be expected, even the capture of the 
town, should unhappily occur ? 

** Force never yet a gen'rous heart did gain; 
We yield on parley, but are storm'd in vain." 

But I shall tire you with my harangue; 
andy while I ought to be sitting in the posture 
of a pupil, I appear to be arrogating to myself 
the chair of instruction. 



MRS. DORMER. 



Do go on; remembering your promise of 
answering my questions so far as you are able. 



MISS NEWMAN. 



I have often been comforted, under the un- 
merited imputation of singularity, scrupulosity, 
censoriousness, uncharitableness, and other such 
charges (which the world is ever ready to lay 



78 Off THE INCONSISTENCY OF 

• 

against the faithful followers of Christ, in order 
to screen themselves from accusations of an 
opposite nature), by reflecting that the frowns 
of the world are far less dangerous than its 
smiles. The former have a natural tendency 
to detach the affections of a Christian more 
and more from its vanities ; while the latter 
as naturally tend to rivet his heart to them. I 
find that, if it be my grand aim to please mefh 
I cannot be the servant of Christ ; ^ and that, 
if my spirit and conduct are such as conciliate 
the esteem and respect of the world, instead 
of congratulating myself on my success, I 
have reason to tremble on account of my state 
towards God ; for Woe unto us, if all men speak 
well of us. * The friendship of the world is 
enndty with God; whosoever, therefore, will be 
the friend of the world, is the enemy of God. * 

» Gal. i. 10. 2 Luke vi. 26. 

3 Janies iv. 4. How awful the address in this passage — 
Ye adulterers and adulteresses, know ye not, that the friend' 
ship of the world is enmity with God ! ! ! A religious 
professor, who has given himself up to Christ by the most 
solemn obligations, and who rescinds his sacred vows by 



CONFORMITY TO THE WORLD. 79 

In reading my Bible, . I see that I am to be 
blameless and harmiessy the child of GW, without 
rehuke in the midst of a crooked and perverse 
natioUf among whom I am to shine ts a light in 
tha world :^ that, instead of dreading those 
aacusations by which the world has always 
excused its own inattention to religion, I am to 
have no fellowship with the unfruitjul works of 
darkness, not even by sanctioning them with 
my presence, hut rather to reprove them^ by a 
determined opposition to them in every shade 
of existence in which they may appear. My 
time is to be spent, not to the lusts of men, but to 
the will of God. ^ It is to be my ambition to 
walk as Christ walked ; and wherever I see the 
coi^ecrated print of his foot, there with holy awe 
and grateful love I am to place my own : and 
though I am conscious of the impossibility 
of attaining to the measure of the stature of the 

desecrating his afifections' to any other object, is guilty 
of spiritual whoredom and adultery. — Comp. Lev. xx. 10. 
1 Phil. ii. 1.5, 3 Eph.v. 11. 

^ See note R. in Appendix. 



80 ON THE INCONSISTENCY OF 

Juiness of Christ; yet I am to keep this in view 
as my object of pursuit, aiming to be perfect^ 
even as my Father which is in heaven is perfect* 
The testimony of conscience that, in simplicity 
and godly sincerity, not withfieshly wisdom, hu 
by the grace of God, I have had my conversation 
in the world, will be an acquisition infinitely 
more valuable, than the united applause of an 
undisceming world. It is an acquisition that 
will be valuable in a dying hour. For though 
that testimony must necessarily be too imperfect 
to afford me any ground of acceptance before 
God (and blessed be his name, we need no such 
unstable basis, since the righteousness of our 
Surety is a firm foundation !) ; yet the comfort 
resulting from it, as an evidence of our interest 
in Christ, will be felt when, the fashion of this 
world passeth away. When I inspect the histo-i 
ries of God's people in various ages of the 
world ; when I contemplate the conduct of 
Noah, of Abraham, of Lot, and of the prophets 
in a later sera ; when I survey the circumstances 
of the Jewish economy, divinely framed for the 



k 



CONFORMITY TO THE WORLD. 81 

express purpose of adumbrating the state of 
the Christian church;^ when I view the conduct 
of our Lord, himself, of his apostles, and of thd 
primitive believers, I find that the favourites 
o^ Heaven have . always been ** men wondered 
at;'*'** distinguished from their contemporaries 
by their spirit and temper, their maxims and 
principles, their words and actions. They were 
all charged with singularity, censoriousness, and 
uncharitableness, ' incurred the displeasure of 
the world, because they bore witness of it, that 
its ways were evil, and its end destruction ; and 
excited its astonishment, because they would 
not run to the same excess of riot * with others. 

'^ See among other passages, Deut. vii. 1 — 11. Numb, 
zxui. 9. 3 Zech. Hi. 8. 

* See particularly I Kings xxi. 20. and itxli. 8. Jer. xz. 
2. and xxxviii. 4. Mlc. ii. 1 1 . Matt. v. 10 — 12. John y. 
16. and xv. 20. Acts vii. 52. Gal. iv. 16, 29. 2 Tim. iii. 
12. and iv. 3. 1 Peter iv. 4, 5. 

* 1 Pet. iv. 5. ** What mean these precise fools ?" (will 
they readily say) " What course is this they take, contrary 
to aU the world ? Will they make a new religion, and 
condemn all their honest civil neighbours that are not like 
them ? Ay, forsooth ; do all go to hell, think you, except 
you, and those that follow your way ? We are for no mar^ 

6 



82 ON THE INCONSISTEHCT OF 

When I thinly of these things, I am consoled 
under the reproach I meet with ; and only wish 
to be found worthy of bekig number^ with 
the noble army of martyrs and confestors of my 
blessed Redeemer. Those who have gone before 
me Zion-wards, have viewed the world as a foreign 
country,' through which they were passing in 
their journey homewards; whose Imdguiiige, 
£uhions^ and customs, were so contrary to thote 
of their native land, that they were disgusted at 
them, and could not be induced to imitate 
them ; while the votaries of this world have 
regarded them as strangers and foreigners^ whose 
language was unintelligible, whose ways were 
very offensive, and who were only worthy of 
contempt and scorn. ^ And unless we are willing 
to jmn this cross-bearing company on earth; 
what reason can we have to expect, that we 

than good fellowship and liberty ; and as for so mach 
reading and (nraying, these are but brain-sick melancholy 
conceits ; a man may go to heaven like his neighbour^ 
without all this ado." Archbp. Leighton's Comment «fi the 
first Epistle of Peter, vol. ii, 180. 

1 Heb. xi. 13. 1 Pet ii. 1 1 . 2 l Cor. iv. 13. 



CONFORMITY TO THE WORLD. 83 

shall find ourselves united with them in 
heaven ? * 



MRS. DORMER. 

Many professors object to the requisition 
of renouncing the pomps and vanities of tke 
world on this ground, that the Divine Being is 
loo gracious to debar his creatures from any 
innocent gratification ; and that, if the situation 
of n Christian in the world be such as is re- 
presented by those who consider the literal sense 
of Scripture to be an unbending rule of con- 
ductr the follower of Christ is of all men most 
tuisemble. ^ 

^ Matt. X. 33. and xvi. 24. If any man mil come after 
me, Ut him deny himself , and take up his cross, and follow 
me. 2 Tim. ii. 12. Jfwe deny him, he also wiU deny us. 
*' We receive this child into the congregation of Christ's 
flock» and do sign him with the sign of the cross, in token 
that hereafter he shall not be ashamed to confess the faith 
of Christ crucified, and manfully to fight under his banner 
against sin, the world, and the devil; and to continue 
Christ's faithful soldier and servant unto his life's end." — 
Public Bt^ism of Infants, 

^ See note S. in Appendix. 

G 2 



84 ON THE INCONSISTENCY OP 

MISS NEWMAN. 

This argument against the necessity of in. 
ward spirituality and abstraction from the 
world, though totally void of force when pro- 
perly examined, becomes of consequence by its 
plausibility and by its frequent adoption* In 
order to take off its edge, I would ask. Has the 
Creator dealt hardly with the papilio because, 
in consequence of his ordinance, it changes its 
nature, ceases to crawl on the ground, . and 
mounts aloft in the air, deriving its pleasures 
from a new source? Has the captive, long a 
prisoner and a slave in Siberian mines, any 
reason for accusing his Sovereign of barbarity' 
when his chains are knocked off, and he is 
restored to the light of day, and the plea- 
sures of society on the surface of the earth ; 
because he is now separated from those low 
gratifications to which he was obliged to resort 
for want of better, while he was confined in 
subterranean caverns ? The argument which 
you have stated is built on falsehood: for it 
supposes the things of the world to be suited 



CONFORMITY TO THE WORLD. 85 

to the faculties of an immortal mind, which is 
made for the enjoyment of God, and which 
nothing but God, his favour and friendship,' 
can ever satisfy. But the believer is become, 
by regeneration, a new creature ; old things 
are passed away 9 and all things are become new, ^ 
The aspect of all those things, with which he 
has hitherto been conversant, is now changed. 
The follies of the world have lost their power 
of giving him contentment ; if, indeed, they 
can be said to afford it to any persons.^ His 
hopes and fears, his desires and aversions, his 
joys and sorrows, arise from new causes, and 

* 2 Cor. V. 17. This is predicable of every Christian 
or person in Christ, 

' Of the idolater (and every lover of the world is an ido- 
later) the prophet Isaiah says (chap. xUv. 20.) He feedeth 
en ashes : a deceived heart hath turned him aside, that he 
cannot deliver his soul, nor say. Is there not a lie in my right 
hand. Let the worldling compare his past experience with 
this description ; and then let him attend to the expostula- 
tion of the same prophet, (chap. xliv. 2.) Wherefore do ye 
spend money for that which is not bread ? and your labour 
for that which satisjieth not ? Hearken diligently unto me, 
and eat ye that which is good, and let your soul delight itself 
infatness. 



86 ON THf: INCONSISTENCY OF 

are, directed to new ends. What he receives 
in lieu of the bubble which he relinquishes, is 
sterling gold. Had the prodigal son any cause 
of complaint when, in consequence of the gra-« 
cious reception which his Father gave him, he 
was no longer under a necessity of feeding od 
hiisks with the swine which his former master 
had set him to keep ? Let the Christian who 
is enjoying the privileges of his profession, be 
asked. Whether the requisition of renouncing^ 
the world be harsh ; and whether God who 
makes it be an Egyptian task-master. He will 
know how to answer the question, by replying, / 
am dead : and my life is hid with Christ in God,^ 

MRS. DORMER. 

Will you now, my dear Miss Newman, bring 
the statement and directions of Scripture on 
this momentous subject into one point of view ? 
Such an epitome may be very useful to my own 
mind, and may furnish me with materials for 
the embassy in which I mean to engage. 

1 Col.i. 1—4. 



CONFORMITY TO THIS WORLD. H? 

MI88 NEWMAN. 

This, madaoiy I will do with as much perapi^ 
cuity as I can ; but I fear that the subject will 
be greatly injured by my attempt. The book 
of God divides the inhabitants of the world 
into two classes, which are described by various 
traits of character therein specified. The great 
Quyority, called, by way of emphasis, the usorldf 
afci siud to lie in the wicked anet ^ to walk qfter 
thefiethy^ to follow the course of this worlds ^ 
to have their conversation in the lusts of the 
fleshy to J^lfil the desires of the flesh and of the 
mmdf and io he the children of wrath. ^ The 
minority, who are chosen out of the mass called 
the worldf are denominated children of Ught^ 
and of Qod*^ They are said to be not of the 
worlds even as their Lord and Master was not 
of the world J They have their conversation t» 
heavenf^ live in the Spirit ^ and walk in the 

* 1 John V. 19. €v Tfl* irovripu. ^ Rom. viii. 5, 12, 13. 
3 Eph. ii. 2. '• Eph. ii. 3. 

* Luke xvi. 8. Eph. v. 8. 1 Thess. v. 5. 

6 Rom. ix. 8. Gal. iii. 26. 1 John iii. 10. 

7 John xvii. 16. ^ p^u. ju. 20. 



88 ON THE Inconsistency of 

Spirit.^ They look not at the thirds which 
are seen^ and are temporal ; but at the things 
which are not seen and are eternal, ^ These, on 
account of the contrariety apparent in thdr 
spiritual manners, the world is said to hate. ^ 
They are accounted as its filth,^ and are a 
spectacle of astonishment and detestation to it.^ 
The world is crucified unto them and they unto 
the world. ^ The things of the world, the lust 
of the fiesK the lust of the eye^ and the pride 
of l\fey'^ are their enemies, against which they 
maintain an incessant state of hostility ; and they 
are enabled, by believing that Jesus is the Son 
of God, to overcome the world.^ Christ gave 
himself for them, that he might deliver them from 
this present evil world ; ^ and through his grace 
they deny ungodliness and worldly lusts, and Jive 
soberly, righteously, and godly in this present 
world* ^^ Between these there is an irreconcile- 
able difference, which keeps them at a distance 
from each other. The world avoids the com- 

* Gal. V. 26. * 2 Cor. iv. 18. 
» John XV. 18, 19, andxvii. 14. * I Cor. iv. 14. 

* 1 Pet. iv. 4. « Gal. vi. 14. 7 i John ii. 16. 
« 1 John V. 4, 5. » Gal. i. 4. " Tit. ii. 12. 



CONFORMITY TO THE WORLD. 89 

pany and conyersation of those who are endued 
with the Spirit of God, because that spirit is 
ofiennve to them; and the Christian is afraid 
of any intimacy with the world, lest he should 
suffer loss thereby in the state of his own soul ; 
for he feels that he is walking on dangerous 
ground while maintaining any intercourse with 
them. The world is, in his estimation, a place 
infected with the plague ; ^ into which nothing 
but necessity, a sense of duty, or a hope of being 
useful, would induce a man to enter ; where he 
would stay as short a time as possible ; and 
where, while he is obliged to stay, he would use 
every precaution for his own preservation, which 
prudence, suggested by the apprehension of peril, 
would dictate. He walks in the world, as a 
person would walk who was aware that traps and 
pit&Us endangered every step. And while a 
Christian has his conversation in the world under 
these convictions, and is depending on his unseen 
Guide and Guardian for direction and defence, 
he is in little danger of falling. But if he forget 

^ See note T. in Appendix. 



90 ON THE INCON8I8TBNCY OF 

the bazardou9 situation in which he is involved, 
and choose worldly company for its own sake ; 
his danger is imminent, he is already infected 
with the plague, and has fallen into the snare, 
from which nothing but Almighty power caa 
rescue him. While the Christian is hastening 
onward to the house not made wiih hands, eternal 
in the heavens, he earnestly calls to the men of 
the world, among whom he is conversant, in the 
words with which Moses addressed Hobab, bis 
father-in law. We are journeying unto the pbH:^, 
qf which the Lord said, ^^ I will give it yon ;'' 
Come thou with us and we will do thee good ; Jbr 
the Lord has spoken good eomeming Israel,^ 
On the other hand, the World, like the strumpet 
in the book of Proverbs, whose lips drop as a» 
honeycomb, and whose movih is smoother thwn 
oil, jetorts the invitation, soliciting the affections 
of the religious professor to her meretricious 
charms and delusive enjoyments.^ Happy is 
he who, through grace, keeps himself unspotted 
from the world ;^ and who, with Moses, chooses 

* Numb. X, 29. * See Prov. vii. 

3 James i. 27. 



CONFORMITY TO THE WORLD. Ql 

rather to suffer affliction with the people of Crody 
than to enjoy the pleasures of sin for a season ; 
and esteems the reproach of Christ greater riches 
than the treasures. of Egypt^ having respect to 
the recompence of the reward. * Thrice happy 
that pilgrim, who shall be found at last to have 
imitated the part ascribed by Milton to the 
Seraph Abdiel, at the close of the fifth book 
of his Paradise Lost: of whom he says, 

" The Seraph Abdiel faithful found 
Amongst the fiuthless, faithful only he ; 
Amongst innumerable false, unmoYed, 
Unshaken, unseduced, unterrified. 
His loyalty he kept, his love, his zeal ; 
Nor number nor example with him wrought 
To swerve from truth, or change his constant mind. 
Though single. From amidst them forth he pass'd. 
Long way through hostile scorn, which he sustained 
Superior, nor of violence fear'd aught ; 
And with retorted pity ' turned his back 
On those proud tow'rs to swift destruction doomM." 

O how great will be the joy of the faithful 

1 Heb. xi. 25, 26. 
^ Pity is here substituted for scorn, because the latter 
forms no ingredient of a Christian's feelings towards the 
world. 



92 ON THE INCONSISTENCY OF 

combatant against the devil, the world, suid the 
flesh, when from " the seat supreme," " from 
midst a golden cloud," the applauding voice 
of God shall be heard, saying, 

« Servant of Grod, well done 1 well hast thou fought 
The better fight, who single hast maintain'd. 
Against revolted multitudes, the cause 

Of truth 

And for the testimony of truth hast borne 

Universal reproach, hx worse to bear 

Than violence ; for this was all thy care 

To stand approved in sight of God, though worlds 

Judge thee perverse." ^ 

Enter thou into the joy of thy Lord.^ 



MRS* DORMER* 

This indeed will be an ample compensation 
foir every sacrifice made and every trial sustained. 
Even here the self-denying follower of Christ 
must have his reward in the conscious felicity 
of his own soul ; and hereafter a crown of glory 

^ Milton's Par. Lost, book vi. ^ Matt. xxv. 21. 



CONFORMITY TO T^S WORLD. 93 

will be the portion of all those who now take up 
their cross, waA follow their Lord m the regenera^ 
tion.^ Animated by these hopes and prospects, 
I trust that I shall be enabled, henceforth, 
to walk worthy of the Lordf' and to adorn the 
doctrine of €rod my Saviour in all things ; ' testi* 
fying both with lip and life, that the Gospel of 
Christ t5, to every one that believeth^ the power 
of God unto salvation* from the love of sin and 
of the world, as well as from its guilt and 

condemnation. Many thanks, my dear Miss 

Newman, for your labour of love. May the 
Lord abundantly bless you in every good word 
and work. 



MISS NEWMAN. 

A good day to you, Mrs. Dormer. 

1 Matt.xix. 28. ^ Col. i, 10. 

» Tit.u. 10. * Rom.i. 16. 



THE END. 



APPENDIX. 



NoTB A. p. 3. 

Persoira of this description tre ready to ask, 
with the amiable youlli of whom we read in 
Matt xix. 16—22, " What lack I yet f " But 
let them remember that, with all the exettiption 
from evil wMch this lovely youth claimed, he 
was destitute of that renovation of heart without 
which BO one can see God ; and that, when 
brought to the test, he discovered his unfitness 
for the kingdom of God; and, so far as we 
know from the short history which is given 
of him^ he never entered it. Jjet those persons 
whose characters are moral and estimable among 
men, narrowly scrutinize their own hearts, lest 
they deceive themselves ; for their good qualities 
may render Uiem more liable to self-deception 



96 APPENDIX. 

than some others. It is the tendency of the 
soul towards GU>d or the world, that constitutes 
the spiritual or carnal mind. To be sensualy 
not having the Spirit, is characteristic of the 
unconverted heart. 



NoTB B. p. 10. 

Whether the consciences of many professing 
parents are free from the guilt incurred by £li» 
must be left to the determination of the indi- 
viduals concerned in the inquiry. It is certain, 
that power is lodged in the hands of parents 
by the great Lord of all; which is to be 
employed, like every other talent, for the glory 
of God and the advantage of those committed 
to their care. It is to be feared that, in this 
day of liberty and equality, ndther parents nor 
children are duly sensible of the extent of 
parental authority ; of the awful responsibility 
resting on the former respecting the exercise 
of it, nor of the obedience due to it by the 
latter ; that the reins of domestic discipline are 



APPENDIX. 97 

held with too slack a hand, and are given up at 
too early an age, even in professing families* 
These considerations appear to the author to 
involve one of the crying sins which prevail in 
the religious world at the present aera, and to 
threaten the most fatal consequences both to 
society at large and to the church of God. 
Whether many Christian parents, whose children 
prove irreligious or profligate characters, may 
not be implicated in their children's guilt, 
by the defect of early restraint and instruction, 
and especially the former, is a solemn question. 
Certain it is, that the word of God has laid 
doynoi a general rule on this subject, in which, 
though there may be exceptions, as in other 
general rules, something must be . implied ; 
Tram up a child in ike way he should go : and 
when he is old he will not depart from it. Prov. 
xxii. 6. Even the heathens saw the importance 
of education, as appears by the well-known lines 
of Horace: — 

Quo semel est imbuta recens, servabit odoreni 
Testa diu. 

On the story of £li (I Sam. ii.) Mr. Scott 

II 



98 APPENDIX. 

makes the following Teflections : < The neglect 
of properly educating children, and the indul^ 
gence of their wayward inclinations^ is a sin 
which G^ severely chastises in his own people : 
because it seems to imply a contempt of his 
authority and special favour, and a disregard 
to his glory, as well as to their immortal souls p 
and because it tends to the most fetal abuses 
and apostasies.' — Scottl^s Bible. 



Note C. p. 14. 

* From the account given by Moses of the 
primceval state of man, it appears that he was 
not left to acquire ideas in the ordinary way, 
which would have been too tedious and slow, as 
he was circumstanced, but was at once fqmished 
with the knowledge which was necessary fov him* 
He was immediately endued with the gift of 
language, which necessarily supposes that he 
was furnished with a stock of ideas, a specimen 
of which he gave in giving names to the inferior 
animals which were brought before him for that 



APPENDIX. 99 

purpose/'— X>r. LelandTs Advaniage and Neceu 
siiyoftbe Christian Revekaiom* Vol. %, part ii^ 
chap. 2y p. SI. 

* Language must have come by inspiratioD^ 
and that inspiration was necessary to give man 
the faculty of speech ; to inform him that he 
may have speech ; which 1 think he could no 
more find out without inspiration, than cows or 
hogs would think of such a fEtculty.* — Dr^ 
Johnson : see his Life by BoswelL Vol. 2, p. 447. 

< Whatever fantastical notions some men may 
advance concerning the origin of language, and 
the possibility of man's gradually inventing 
it by his own unassisted powefs; yet^ in fect» 
not a i^ngle instance can be produced, since the 
creation of the world, of any human creature's 
ever using articulate sounds as the signs of 
idetm; or^ tn other words, of his speaking or 
hating language ; unless he was first taught it, 
either immediately and at once by GU>d, as Adam 
at hia formation, and the apostles on the day 
of Pentecost, Acts ii, or gradually by his parents 
cpr nurses*' Parkhmrsi^s Lexicon.-r^On this 
soh^ect see also EUis^a Inquiry t p. 8 ; and 

H 2 



100 APPENDIX. 

Eusebius^s Prteparat. EvangeL lib. xi. cap. 6. 
—Probably < the celebrated Cadmus, who, 
according to Herodotus (lib. v. cap. 57> 58), 
came from Phenicia into Greece, and whose 
companions introduced th^ use of the Phenician 
letters into that country,' derived his name 
from the Hebrew word Olp the East, whereby 
the derivation of language from its true source 
seems to have heea traditionally preserved. 



Note D. p. 15. 

* Before I conclude , it may not be 

amiss to offer some directions concerning the 
best method of acquiring a knowledge of the 
Hebrew language, to those who have not the 
benefit of a master. In the first place, then, 
I would advise such persons to acquaint them- 
selves with the common grammatical rules and- 
inflexions (a task, which, by the assistance of 
the grammar now put into their hands, ^ and> 
particularly of the sheet grammar, they will, I 
believe, upon trial, find, much easier than they 



APPENDIX. 101 

coald well have imagined) ; — then to begin 
reading' the first chapter of Genesis with the 
grammatical praxis (Gram. sect, xi.) ; and after 
having well mastered every word in it, proceed 
to the following chapters with the help of 
Montanus^s inter lineary version, if they under- 
stand Latin ; if not, our English translation, 
with the marginal readings, will very well supply 
the place. But as they advance, they should 
still take care grammatically to account for 
every word in the manner of the praxis, and 
according either to the longer or the shorter 
grammar, &c. And I can venture to assure 
any person of tolerable parts and abilities,, that 
lan application thus directed, of two op three 
hours every day to the Hebrew language, on* 
adulterated with the Rabbinical points, will, in 
a few months, enable him to read in the orig-inal, 
with ease and delight, most parts of those Holy 
Scriptures, all of which, St. Paul assures us, 
were given by inspiration of God, and are able 
to make us wise unto salvation, through faith, 
which is in Christ Jesus. 2 Tim. iii. 15, l6«'^— 
• Preface to ParkhursVs Lexicon. 



103 APPENDIX. 

' Note E. p, 16. 

The account which is given of Miss Elizabeth 
Hutchinson, who died July 10, 1800, at the 
age of 21, in a funeral sermon by the Rev. 
Edward Bum, is calculated for great usefulness 
among young persons ; and is therefore eamettly 
recommended by the writer of these, pag^ to 
their perusal. From this account the following 
passage is extracted* *^ Her inquiries on the 
subject of religion were those of a mind deeply 
in earnest. Though vigilant to an example, in 
her attention to the ordinances of public worship, 
she was much in retirement ; and though exten* 
sively read in the works of our best modem 
divines, her principal books were her Bible and 
her own heart. And here her progress was truly 
astonishing. Not satisfied with an enlarged and 
accurate knowledge of what may be obtained 
by our English version, she applied herself to 
the study of the Hebrew Scriptures ; and with 
such success that, during the last two years of 
her life, she read the original of the Old Testa- 



APPENDIX. 103 

ment) not only with eBse, but with a degree 
of accuracy and cntical discernment, that would 
justly be held reputable in the sacred profession. 
Such was her facility and delight in this holy 
study, that she abridged, at the age of sixteen, 
the Hebrew Grammar and Lexicon of Park* 
hurst; and during the last six months of her 
illness, she compiled, and wrote out with her 
own hand, a large grammar and praxis of the 
sacred tongue, both of which are executed in 
astyleof superior accuracy and beauty. These 
were presented to her parents as tokens of filial 
regard, and remain as interesting memorials of 
a most ingenious and affectionate daughter." 



Note F. p. 26* 

The theatre is often defended, and eren 
spoken of with approbation, by persons who 
pretend to be friends of religion and of the 
established church; who would fain have it 
believed, that all objections to its amusements 
are puritamad and tnethadistical. To allow this 



104 APPENDIX. 

would be a compliment to the puritans and 
methodists, which they by no means merit ; for 
it would be an acknowledgment that they only 
are enemies of vice, and friends of religion, mo- 
rality, and virtue. To restore a small part, at 
least, of the credit which arises from a deter- 
mined opposition to vice to its lawful proprietors^ 
the members of our church, will be an act of 
justice, with which no persons can be offended 
but her false friends, who have basely wrested 
i^ from them. For this purpose a passage from 
the words of Dr. Thomas Bray (a person to 
ivhom no imputation of puritanism or methodism 
can possibly be attached, and whose epistle 
dedicatory testifies the highest regard to the 
Church of England) will suffice. In his lectures 
on the Church Catechism, when he speaks of 
the baptismal vow which relates to the pomps 
and vanities of this wicked world, p. 217, he 
says, ** These {pomps), as they were part of the 
Pagan idolatries, so they were what the primi- 
tive Christians were most particularly con- 
cerned to renounce. But, however, since the 
fiiam^ renunciation of the pomps of this world is 



APPENDIX. 105 

6till retained in our church, though the very 
same things which were at first meant thereby^ 
are perhaps become obsolete and out of use in 
Christendom ; and yet it is not to be supposed, 
but that our church had respect to something 
still in use in the Christian world, as fit to be 
renounced under that title by every disciple 
of JESUS : I shall, therefore, together with a 
short account of the meaning of pomps^ in the ' 
sense they were renounced by the primitive 
Christians, take care especially to show you, 
what amongst us is most analogous to the 
ancient heathenish pomps, and bear such a near 
resemblance to them, as to render these our 
modem pomps fit also to be renounced by every 
Christian. 

«< By pomps were anciently meant (in the 
opinion of our learned and excellent Dr. Ham- 
mond) those pompous shows and spectacles 
exhibited by the emperors, and great men of 
Rome, in the Roman theatres, wherein multi- 
tudes of captive wretches were put to slay one 
another in their sword-plays, for the diversion 
of the people. And, indeed^ it is not unlikely 



106 APPENDIX. 

that thereby may be meant, not «nly those 
bloody sword-plays, but all those scenical repre* 
terUatioHS and plays whatever, acted in memory 
of their false gods upcHi their great fiestiyals, 
which were sometimes so very lewd and impious 
(for instance, those which were acted in honour 
of Flora,) that the people of Rome were ashamed 
to proceed in them whilst Cato, a person of 
renowned virtue amongst them, was present in 
the theatre. They were also wonderfully pom* 
.pons and the scenes magnificent, the greatest 
grandees of Rome appearing at them, and having 
their seats, or boxes ^ appropriated to each order 
or rank of great men, according to their degrees 
and qualities. And here also very likely it was, 
that the lewd crew of both sexes met together 
to make their assignations ; for near to the circus 
and theatre^ there were those stews, where they 
withdrew to act thdr vile abominations. 

<< And now, that which approaches in these 
our days, nearest to those sort of heathenish 
pomps, and which, in pompousness and magnifi- 
cence of scene, are not much inferior to them, 
are those profane and lewd plays, acted in our 



APPBNPIX. 10/ 

public play-houses, where, for aught I know, 
more souls are now murdered, than in the former 
were bodies; more profaneness uttered, and 
more lewd assignations made, than at the Pagan 
theatres : and how infinitely unfit then is it, that 
those kind of diversions should be suffered in a 
Christian state, or that persons professing Chri». 
tianity should be permitted to go near them ? 
The primitive fathers looked on the theatres and 
play-houses as no other than the devil's terrif 
tones; insomuch that, it happening once that 
when a Chnstian, being prompted by curiosity 
to be present at the spectacles therein, was pos- 
sessed by the devil, the father was not startled 
at it, but readily owned, that Satan had a right 
to take that person captive, whom he found 
within his own precincts. And if those who 
frequent our modem play-houses, do generally 
return thence possessed with a spirit of pro- 
faneness, lust, or vanity, it is but what may 
reasonably be expected ; for though all evil 
conversation is infectious, yet vice does then 
most easily insinuate itself into our (lispositions, 
and flies to the very heart, when the poison 



108 APPENDIX. 

is mixed with pleasure^ wit, and smartness 
of conceit. 

** And now, since it is uniyetsally agreed 
amongst all serious persons, that a more irre^ 
ligious spirit did never reign upon any theatre, 
than has in this last age in our modem play- 
houses: since (as is the general complaint) in 
these houses piety is so strangely ridiculed, the 
holy and reverend name of God profaned, and 
his glory and interest rendered so contemptible 
and vile : since the youth especially of our 
nation are so allured thereby into the love of, 
and delight in, idleness, excessive vanity, revel- 
lings, luxury, wantonness, lasciviousness, whore-^ 
doins, and such debaucheries, by oaths, looseness 
of conversation, and corrupt atheistical princi- 
ples : since our gentlemen are here taught to 
deride religion, to dissolve in luxury, to abandon 
themselves to their pleasures, to be debauchers 
of women, to be profuse and extravagant in 
their expenses, and to be entirely libertines : 
since the young ladies of our nation are here 
thoroughly instructed in intrigues and assig- 
nations; to scoff at the prudent reservedness 



APPENDIX. 109 

and modesty of the best of .their sex, to despise 
the best instructions of their parents and guar* 
dians, to be disobedient to their authority, and, 
at last, without their knowledge and consent, to 
marry themselves to some loose or lewd libertine ; 
and, indeed, since the minds and manners of the 
great ones, especially, of both sexes, are hereby 
so foully corrupted, and their affections so sadly 
alienated from the love of God and goodness ; 
all these things considered, it were greatly to 
be wished, our playhouses were totally suppress* 
ed. However, in the mean time, I think it 
concerns all, that will be secure from ever apos- 
tatising from the faith of Christ and a religious 
life, so far to reject these our modem pomps, 
as never to enter within those houses where these 
plays are acted.'* 

If it should be objected to this statement 
of the truly excellent divine whom we have 
quoted, that the vices and errors of the stage 
have been corrected since the sera of Dr. Bray ; 
the objection may be confronted by a reference 
to almost every popular theatrical performance 
of the present day, and by proofs adduced 



no APPENDIX. 

therefrDin that the modera dramas have a direct 
tendency to produce the flame awful effects, 
which Dr. Bray attributes to those of the last 
century* Nay, it may be demonstrated that 
the stage can never cease to be a school of vice ; 
for were nothing exhibited thereon that is con« 
genial to the corrupt inclinations of the depraved 
heart of man, it would attract no spectators, 
and could not be supported. If an attoddmice 
on the amusements of the theatre be not an 
explicit and positive breach of the bi^ismal vow, 
it will be difficult to prove that it can be broken 
at all. See also Milner^s History of the Ckurch 
of Christ, voL i. p. 463, &c. 



Note G. p. 33. 

^ It is impossible to advert to the present 
state of female manners, without noticing a still 
more melancholy proof of the decay of those 
feeling^ which are the grand bulwarks of female 
virtue, than even a growing indifference to the 
character of those who are admitted into the' 



APPENDIX. IJl 

parties of fa^ionable life: I mean the indecent 

modes of dress, which are becoming more and 

more prevalent among women of all classes. 

These modes, and indeed the whole style of 

modem female dress, were evidently invented 

for the purpose of exciting sensuality and of 

inflaming passions that stand in the greatest 

need of restraint; but they have been adopted 

by women who lay claim to unsullied reputa^ 

tion, and by them transmitted to the lowest 

ranks of female society, with a rapidity of 

communication, which affords a most striking 

instance of the contagion of bad example* The 

prevalence of such a fashion in those ranks, 

where it can be but little counteracted by 

education or reflection, must inevitably prove 

an inexhaustible source of prostitution and 

debauchery ; — a consideration which ought 

surely to induce every woman, who has the least 

regard for her sex, to exert all her authority, 

and all her influence;, in discountenancing a 

practice which leads to such direful conse* 

quences. TUs scandalous violation of the kwa 

of decency, on th« part of those whose duty it 



112 APPENDIX. 

was to be the guardians of those laws, has 
already, in many instances, been followed by a 
severe, though it must be owned, a just punish- 
ment; with a punishment which, however just, 
is calculated to wound the tenderest feelings 
of our nature. Many women who, a little while 
since, shone forth among the loveliest of their 
sex, are now dressed in their shrouds, because, 
in an evil hour, they laid aside those parts 
of their apparel, which health, as well as de- 
cency, forbade them to relinquish. What must 
be the emotions of those parents, and of those 
husbands, who have been thus bereft of their 
dearest comforts, which a little seasonable and 
kind admonition might have still preserved! 
A very moderate degree of reflection, indeed, 
without the aid of admonition, should be more 
than sufficient to prevent the adoption of so 
baneful a fashion. What woman, having any 
claim to character, would suffer herself to trans^ 
gress the laws of decency, if she considered for 
a single moment, how cheap she thereby renders 
herself in the eyes of the other sex ? The female 
who makes an improper display of her person^ 



APPENDIX. 113 

iDay become an object of transient desire^ but 
forfeits all title to respect. The man of sense, 
who is ever the friend of decency (for never was 
a maxim more true, than that which represents 
a want of decency as a want of sense) looks 
upon such a woman as a disgrace to her sex» 
Nay 9 the shallow superficial coxcomb has sense 
enough to. discover her unfitness for the sacred 
duties of conjugal life; and to know that 
decency is the least pledge that a woman can 
give for chastity. Even the licentious admira-* 
ration which the profligate libertine pays to her 
charms, is mingled with secret contempt; and 
he talks of her among his dissolute companions, 
with a grossness of familiarity, the very idea 
of which would raise in her cheeks the glow 
of indignation, if it did not suffuse them with 
the blush of modesty. 

^^ Does the degraded female console herself^ 
for such mortifications, by the reflection that 
she has not sacrificed her virtue? Does she 
think her conduct and character irreproachable, 
because, in the ordinary sense of the word, she 
has preserved her chastity ? Alas ! what erro-* 

I 



t 



114 APPENDIX. 

neous ideas has she formed of female chastity I 
To abstain from the grossness of vice, is th^ 
least, though an indispensable, part of this most? 
important of virtues. This divine principle i» 
seated in the mind ; it is enthroned in the hearty 
and there maintains a sovereign sway, not only 
over the external deportment, but over the 
hidden thoughts and inmost feelings. These 
thoughts and feelings are not within the reach 
of human observation; and consequently it 
cannot always be ascertained, whether the claims 
of any particular woman to chastity be unim*- 
peachable ; or whether they be founded merely 
in that counterfeit quality, the very e»stence 
of which depends on the want of opportunity 
to indulge the licentious passions, without in- 
convenience or danger of discovery. But 
though it be difficult to pronounce, with cer- 
tainty, on this delicate question, it is easy to 
come to a fair decision upon it. Genuine chastity 
— that is, the chastity of the heart and of the 
mind — has some characteristics with which it 
never fails to be accompanied. Of those cha- 
racteristics, the most indubitable, as well as the 



APPENDIX. 115 

most indispensable, is that nice and extreme 
sensibility, which instinctively shrinks from 
whatever can give the smallest offence to the 
most refined delicacy : and which acts as the 
vigilant centinel — the jealous guardian — not 
only of the citadel itself, but of the remotest 
outworks of female chastity. What then shall 
be said of those women, who, instead of dis- 
playing any symptoms of those delicate feelings, 
set decency itself at defiance, and prove them- 
selves to be destitute of all sense of shame? 
How dare she claim to be considered as vir- 
tuous, who gives the most glaring proof that 
she is not even a modest woman ? That this is 
a just description of the fashionable females 
of the present day, no one, who is witness to 
itbe indecent exposure which they make of their 
persons, can pretend to dispute. So scanda- 
lously indecent is that exposure, that to j udge 
from appearances, virtuous women seem now to 
have less modesty, than belonged to the prosti- 
tutes of former times. Justice, however, requires 
a distinction between the blooming but unfor- 
tunate maid, whose native blushes are over- 

I 2 



116 APPENDIX. 

powered by the influence and example of a 
venal mother : and the chaste matron, who» by 
a wanton exhibition of her person, shows that 
she is incapable of a blush» The former is an 
object of compassion; and still more so than 
she would be, if her life were to become a 
sacrifice to the brutal rage of her from whom 
she recdved it. The latter dbplays the female 
character in the most odious form which it is 
capable of assuming. She is even more odious 
and detestable on account of her pretensions to 
chastity. The monstrous and unnatuml alli- 
ance, which she endeavours to establish between 
virtue and helplessness, tends not only to bring 
the former into contempt, but to endanger its 
very existence, by depriving it of its natural 
and necessary defence. Compared with such 
a woman, the female who has fallen a victim to 
temptation, and who hides herself in retirement 
from the disgrace which she can never wipe 
away, is an object of commiseration. — Nay, 
compared with such a woman, the bold and 
abandoned profligate, who, with dauntless eflVon- 
tery, appears publicly in her true character, 



APPENDIX. • 117 

is less disgraceful to her sex, and Fess injurious 
to society." 

The above quotation (the importance of which 
must apologize for its length) is taken from a 
pamphlet, intituled. Remarks on Modem Fenude 
Manners^ as distinguished by indifference to 
characteTy and indecency cf dress : extracted 
from ** Reflections, Political and Moral, at the 
Conclusion of the War : by John Bowles, Esq J** 
Octavo, price 6d. Rivingtons, 1802. As a fur- 
ther recommendation of this tract to public 
notice, the just praise bestowed on it in the 
British Critic is added for the reader^s perusal. 
*^ This is a striking extract from a work which 
we have formerly praised, on the female modesty 
so little consulted in the present feshionable 
modes of dress. The influence of the female 
character on the great interests of society, is 
here ably displayed; and the British fair are 
reminded into what degradation they plunge 
themselves, by condescending to adopt the 
appearance of wantons. That which has most 
surprised us, on many occasions, is, that parents 
themselves of strict characters, should su£Eer 



118 APPENDIX. 

their nnthinkiDg daughters, even in their pre- 
sence, to make an appearance which they surely 
cannot contemplate without a blush*'* — British 
Critic for October, 1802. 

From the above citation, it appears that the 
politician and moralist concur with the theo- 
logian in reprobating the corruption of the 
present eera* 



Note H. p. 34. 

It may be remarked, that no notice has been 
taken of the extravagance in the expenditure 
of money which prevails, respecting dress, fur-i- 
niture, and other things, in the present day* 
The silence which is observed in the dialogue 
on this subject arose, not from the infrequency 
or innocence of profuse and luxurious habits, 
of which the gratification of pride and vanity is 
the aim ; but from the multiplicity' of other 
objects which demanded censure. It will not, 
however, be improper to observe, that this kind 
of vanity is as much a breach of our baptismal 



APPENPIX. 119 

TOW, as any other instance of it which has been 
specified; and that it is, moreover, a breach 
of more than one commandment* It is a trans- 
gression of the first, since it is a surrender of 
the heart to the world» which Jehovah claims as 
wholly his own. Of the sixth ; as thereby we 
withhold from our poor neighbour^ that which 
might contribute to the comfort of his life, or 
even save him from perishing by cold or hunger, 
and so become accessaries to his death; while 
nerther our necessities nor our accommodations 
demand the surplusage we desecrate to the pomps 
of the world. Of the eighth ; since we thereby 
unjustly alienate from the poor that which is their 
due, the superfluities of our income not being 
ours, but theirs. It would be easy to show, by 
a just deduction of consequences, that several 
other commandments are infringed by profuse** 
ness in the expenditure of our money, und that 
the whole second table of the law is thereby 
violated ; since it requires us to <io unto otherSp 
as we would they should do unto us. Bishop 
Beveridge, in the resolutions be formed foi: 
the conduct of his life, writes thus : '' I am 



120 APPENDIX. 

resolved, by the divine grace, to employ my 
riches, the outward blessings of Providence, to 
the same end (the glory and service of my great 
Creator) ; and to observe such a due medium 
in the dispensing of them, as to avoid prodi- 
gality on the one hand, and covetousness on the 
other. — This, without doubt, is a necessary reso- 
lution, but it is likewise very difficult to put in 
practice, without a careful observance of the 
following rules : Firsty Never to lavish out my 
substance, like the prodigal, in the revels of sin 
and vanity, but after a due provision for the 
necessities and conveniences of life, to lay up 
the overplus for the acts of love and charity 
toward my indigent brethren. I must consider 
the uses and ends for which God has intrusted 
me with such and such possessions ; that they 
were not given me for the pampering my body, 
the feeding my lusts, or puffing me up with 
pride and ambition ; but for advancing its 
glory, to my own and the public good. But 
why do I say given ? When, as I have before 
observed, I have no propriety in the riches I 
possess : they are only lent me for a few years, 



APPENDIX. 121 

to be dispensed and distributed as my great 
Lord and Master sees fit to appoint ; viz, for 
the benefit of the poor and necessitous, which he 
has made his deputies to call for and receive 
his money at my hands. And this, indeed, is 
the best use I can put it to, for my own advan- 
tage, as well as theirs : for the money I bestow 
upon the poor, I give to God to lay up for me, 
and I have his infallible word and promise for 
it, that it shall be paid me again with unlimited 
interest, out of his heavenly treasure, which is 
infinite, eternal, and inexhaustible. Hence it is, 
that, whensoever I see any fit object of charity, 
methinks I hear the Most High say to me, Give 
this poor brother so much of my stock, which 
thou hast in thy hand, and I will place it to 
thy account as given to myself; and look what 
thou layest out^ and it shall be paid thee again, 

«* The second rule is never to spend a penny, 
where it can be better spared ; nor to spare it 
where it can be better spent. And this will 
oblige me whensoever any occasion offers of 
laying out money, considerately to weigh the 
circumstances of it, and according as the matter 



123 APPENDIX. 

upon mature deliberation requires, I must not 
grudge to spend it ; or if at any time 1 find 
more reason to spare, I must not dare to spend 
it; still remembering that, as I am strictly to 
account for the money Grod has given me, so 
I ought neither to be covetous in saving, nor 
profuse in throwing it away without a just occa- 
sion. The main thing to be regarded is the 
end I propose to myself in my expences ; whether 
it be really the glory of God, or my own carnal 
humour and appetite. For instance, if 1 lay 
out money in clothing my body, the question 
must be, whether I do this only for warmth and 
decency, or to gratify my pride and vanity? 
If the former, my money is better spent ; if the 
latter, it is better spared than spent. Again-^ 
do I lay it out in eating and drinking ? If this 
be only to satisfy the necessities of nature, and 
make my life the more easy and comfortable, 
it is, without doubt, very well spent ; but if it 
be to feed my luxury and intemperance, it is 
much better spared ; better for my soul in 
keeping it from sin, and better for my body in 
preserving it from sickness*" 



▲PPENDIX. 123 

Note I. p. 36. * 

CoL iii. 5. Psalm x. 3. << Every species of 
gaming originates from an undue desire and 
hope of increasing wealth by proportionably 
impoverislung other men; and is therefore a 
direct violation of this lavr," viz. the 10th 
Commandment* ^* Public gaming, by lotteries, 
so far from being less criminal than other species 
of that vice, is the worst of them all : for it 
abets and sanctions, so far as example and con- 
currence can do it, the practice that opens a 
door to every species of fraud and villany ; that 
is pregnant with the most extensive evils to the 
community and to individuals, &c«" — ScoWs 
Essays^ p. 59* 

Note K. p. 37. 

The too frequent and more terrible efifects 
of gaming, such as enmity, malice, duelling, 
murder, suicide, and the reduction of flourishing 
^milies to poverty, have been purposely omitted 



124 APPENDIX. 

in the dialogue; because these hornd conse- 
quences will be said to result only from hazard- 
ing large sums, which the more sober amateurs 
of cards will concur in condemning. These^ 
however, strongly enforce the propriety of our 
Lord's affectionate caution, as applicable to the 
case before us. Watch and pray^ that ye enter 
not into temptation. Hazael resented the pro- 
phetic intimation, that he would be the mur- 
derer of his master, &c. ; and indignantly asked, 
Is thy servant a dog that he thould do this 
thing ? Yet, although he thought himself abso- 
lutely incapable of perpetrating so atrocious an 
action, and was confident of his own integrity ; 
by yielding to the first emotions of ambition, he 
actually became guilty of this enormous crime. 
(See 2 Kings, viii. 12, 13, 15.) When a round 
body is set in motion on a declivity, no one can 
be certain that it will stop, till it arrives at the 
bottom. Now the way of sin is a declivity; 
not indeed precipitous or perpendicular, but a 
gradual descent: the mind of man is corrupt, 
and under the influence of a powerful attraction 
to the very nadir of criminality; and when it 



APPENDIX. 125 

has yielded to the first sblicitation to the prac-> 
tice of sin, its progress therein is natural and 
unavoidable) if unchecked by extrinsical re- 
straint. Principiis oBSTAy Nip sin in the hud, 
is a maxim, which, though it flowed from the 
pen of a heathen, is worthy of being written in 
letters of gold ; and, enforced by the pen of 
inspiration, 1 Thess. v. 22, should be inscribed 
on every Christian's heart. 



Note L. p. 41. 

The exhortations, which are to be found iit 
Scripture, to an imitation of Christ and of his 
apostles, are so numerous, as to make a par- 
ticular reference to them unnecessary. Why do 
Christians bear his sacred name : why are they 
termed his disciples and followers ; but because 
they are supposed to be imitators of his example ? 
See 1 John ii. 6. John viii. 12. 1 Cor. xi. 1. 
Matt. xix. 28. Rev. xiv. 4. ** No one can 
fail to see that the life of Christ was designed 
as a pattern for his followers, who considers how 



196 APPENDIX. 

admirably it is calculated for that purpose.-^ 
Aiid should We not find it the best compendium 
of morality, the most perfect and unerring rule 
whereby to direct ourselves tit aU caseSy if we 
would only ask our own hearts before we enter 
on an action, how the blessed Jesus would 
behave in our circumstances? A conscience 
but moderately informed from the Gospel would 
seldom, perhaps, give a wrong determination* 
But the truth is, we are afraid of the answer ; 
and therefore dare not ask the question." 
Bp. Home's Sixteen Sermons, vol. 1, p. 9, 10. 
— ** Let the whole world go whither it will, 
I am resolved to walk in the steps that my 
Saviour went in before me : I shall endeavour, 
in all places I come into, in all companies I con- 
verse with, in all duties I undertake, in all the 
miseries I undergo, still to behave myself as my 
Saviour would do, was He in my place. So that 
wheresoever I am, or whatsoever I am about, 
I shall still put the question to myself. Would 
my Saviour go hither ? Would be .do this or 
that? &c." Bp. Beveridge^s Private Thoughts, 
; — Leaving our Divine Master out of the ques^ 



APPENDIX. J 27 

tion, in order to avoid the crime of blasphemy ; 
to paint St. Paul or St. John as engaged in 
either of the innocent amusements which ^are 
censured in the Dialogues, would be too ridicu- 
lous to be borne, and would expose the painter 
to contempt, if not to a charge of profaneness. 

The charge of novelty, or unnecessary pre- 
ciseness, which may be adduced against the 
opinions stated in the Dialogue (though of no 
moment whatever) will be fully obviated by the 
75th canon of our church ; from which it is evident 
that the sentiments of our excellent Reformers 
concurred with those which are here adopted. 
For theran ministers are strictly prohibited, 
under the sanction of severe ecclesiastical cen- 
sures, to spend their time idly, h/ day or by 
night, playing at dice, cards, or tables, or amy 
o/Aer UNLAWFUL game. In the opinion there- 
fore of our Church, Dice, cards, and tables, are 
unlawjul games, and an idle mode (comp. Matt, 
xii. 36.) of spending time. And whereas, by 
abstaining from these unlawful things, the clergy 
are exhorted, at the close of the same canon, to 
be examples to the people to H^ well and Chris^ 



128 APPENDIX. 

tianly ; it is plain that our church does not con-' 
sider that layman as living well and Christianlj/, 
who does not abstain from them. The canon 
indeed is grown old and gray-headed ; and the 
prescribed ecclesiastical censures are not inflicted 
with severity ; nor indeed at all, according to 
the qualities of these offences. But the qualities 
of these offences continue the same ; for if these 
things were unlawful, when the canon was made, 
they are unlawful still. If the founders of our 
church are deemed enthusiasts, the author would 
say to each individual of their corps. Tecum 
vivere amem^ tecum obeam libens. 

It is not to be expected that the considerations 
which are suggested in these pages, will have 
any weight with those persons whose consciences 
are not under the influence of the Divine word ; 
and who, of consequence, have no concern 
whether their conduct be regulated by it or not. 
But it is hoped, that they will be tried at the 
bar of calm reason, and also be weighed in the 
balance of the Sanctuary, by all those persons, 
who wish to adorn the doctrine of God their 
Saviour in all things. 



APPENDIX. 129 

Note M. p. 43. 

< Shall I grudge to spend my life for him, 
who did not grudge to spend his own blood for 
me ? Shall not I so live that he may be glorified 
on earth, who died that I may be glorified in 
heaven.^ Especially considering, that if my 
whole life could be sublimated into holiness, 
and moulded into an exact conformity to the 
will of the Most High, I should be happy be- 
yond expression. O ! what a heaven should 
I then live on earth ! What ravishments of love 
and joy would my soul continually be possessed 
with ? Well, I' am resolved, by the grace of 
God, to try. And to that end do, this morning, 
wholly sequester and set myself apart for GOD, 
resolving, by the assistance of his grace^ to 
make all and every thought, word, and action, 
to pay their tribute unto him. Let this man 
mind his profit, a second his pleasures, a third 
his honours, a fourth himself, and all their sins; 
I am resolved to mind and serve my Grod, so as 
to make him the alpha and omega^ the first and 

K 



130 APPENDIX. 

the last, of my whole life.' Beveridge^s Pri- 
vate Thoughts. 



Note N. p. 44. 

* Methodist is the present term for one who 
has too much vital and practical Christianity 
for the bulk of professed Christians, and of 
course for the world at large ; and I shall affirm, 
without fear, that whatever be the rank, talents, 
and general respectability of such a one-^how^ 
^vet* steUdy and consistent his attachment and 
cohfdtmity to the established church — however 
free ftom eccentricity and irregularity in his 
walk*'— yet let him be in earnest and in actian 
as a Christian, and he shall be a proof oi my 
retnark. 

** F<Bnum kabet in cornu, Umg^fuge. — *' 

* Some, indeed, have thought that by a nice 
adjustment of the phrases, habits, and con>- 
nections, they might maintain the truths and yet 
escape the ferm. I pity from my heart an honest 
nrnn making such fruitless attempts. He is 



APPENDIX. 131 

another Sisyphus.' — He may be wise, but he is 
not wise enough : he does not see that as far as 
he is of the tvorld, the world will love its own, 
and no further/ Must he» however, from con- 
science enter his protest ? Let him do it in 
God's name ; but let him know that, as far as 
he does it in simpliciti/ and godly sincerity, the 
world will come forward with thdrs.' CedVs 
lAfe of Cadogan, p. 30. 

Mr. Cecil afterwards very propei'ly distin- 
guishes those persons, who, in spite of the 
warmest attachment and strictest conformity to 
the doctrine and discipline of the established 
church, are:branded with the name of Methodist; 
from others who, ;to use the terse description 
of Mr* Jones, in bis life of the late bishop of 
Norwich, maintain Christian godliness, without 
Christian order* With the former may the 
author be numbered both in life and. death ! ! ! 

' * Optat mpremo coUocare Sisyphus 
In monte scumm .* sed vetant leges Jovis* 



K 2 



132 APPENDIX. 

Note O. p. 51. 

'< In a due sense of the vanities and follies of 
my younger years, I desire to take shame to 
myself for what is past ; and do, this morning, 
humbly prostrate myself before the throne of 
grace, to implore God*s pardon, and to make 
solemn promises and resolutions for the future, 
to cast off the works of darkness^ and to piU on 
the armour of Ix^ht ; and not only so, but to 
redeem the precious minutes I have squandered 
away, by husbanding those that remain to the 
best advantage. I will not trifle and sin afway 
my time in the pleasures of sense, 'or the imper- 
tinences of business ; but shall always employ 
it in things that are necessary or useful, and 
proportion it to the weight and importance of 
the work or business I engage myself in ; allot- 
ting such a part of it for this business, and such 
a part for that, so as to leave no intervals for 
unlawful or unnecessary actions to thrust them- 
selves in, and pollute my life and conversation." 
Bishop Beveridge^s Private Thoughts, 



APPENDIX. 133 

Note P. p. 64. 

Rom. vi. 13. — Every reader of these pages, 
whose mind is open to the admission of truth, 
will perceive, that most of the arguments therein 
adduced are equally conclusive against the per- 
nicious practice of novel -reading as any other 
worldly amusement. Let the experiment be 
made by their application to this growing and 
destructive evil, whether their effect will not 
resemble that which is attributed by Milton to 
Ithuriel*8 spear. As the influence of novels on 
the heart corresponds exactly with the design 
-of the great deceiver of mankind, described in 
the passage above alluded to, that passage is laid 
before the reader, that he may himself draw the 
parallel. Speaking of the discovery of Satan in 
Adam's bower by two angelic guards, the poet 

says : — 

" Him there they found 
Squat like a toad^ close at the ear of Eve, 
Assaying by his dev'lish art to reach 
The organs of her fancy, and with them forge 
Illusions as he list, phantasms and dreams, , 



134 APPENDIX. 

Or if, inspiring venom, he might taint 
Th' animal spirits that from pure blood arise 
Like gentle breaths from rivers pure, thence raise 
At least distemper'd, discontented thoughts. 
Vain hopes, vain aims, immoderate desires. 
Blown up with high conceits engend'ring pride. 
Him thus intent, Ithuriel with his spear 
Touch'd lightly ; for no falsehood can endure 
Touch of celestial temper, "but returns 
Of force to its own likeness : \)p he starts 
Discover'd and surprised. As when a spark 
Lights on a heap of nitrous powder, laid 
Fit for the tun some magazine to store 
Against a rumour'd war, the smutty grain 
With sudden bla2e diffus'd inflam^ the air. 
So started up in his own shape the fiend." 

Paradise Lost, book iv. 

In common with the other degrading diver- 
'sions which have been reprobated, the practice 
of reading novels is a waste of -precidus time 
given us for far different purposes ; it inflames 
the passions; corrupts the heart; tends to 
alienate the affections from divine things, and 
to set them on things beneath. The author 
scruples not to avow his full conviction, that no 
one, whose mind is spiritually disposed, can 
relish such an enployment ; and that no parents, 



APPENDIX. 135 

whose consciences ate reflated by the 'Word 
of God, and who are at aill concerned for the 
eternail welfkre of those who are <50fnmitt6d to 
their charge, can suffer their children to indulge 
themselves therein. This practii^e, independent 
of its irreligious tendency, -is ^hostile to all tem- 
poral improvement and c<jimfo^t; fdt it unfits 
the mind for all useful redding, and disqualifies 
it for the sober bii^ness lind stlti6factions<6f life. 
For the confitlEiidtion c^f these sentidi^tits, the 
author refers to a lettei- Oh Novels, iikila^ 11th 
volume of the W4drks of the Rev. WiUiam Jones, 
p. 234, from which the following extmdt i» mude : 
"It were well if the reading of novels were 
nothing worse than the loss of time and mbpey, 
though this is bad enough ; but young people 
will not escape so ; it has generally a* bad effect 
upon the mind ; and, iu soiHe instances, a fatal 
eifect upon the morals and fortune. In novels, 
plays, «md romances, (for thefy huve dl thesatne 
gi^eral object, which is ^wittsdmeniy gdod Atfd 
evil are disguised by fake colourings and unjuist 
representations. The end is, to please: and 
how is this end to be obtained? Nothing will 



136 APPENDIX. 

please loose people but intrigues and loose ad- 
ventures ; nothing will please the unlettered 
profligate but blasphemous sneers upon religion 
and the Holy Scriptures ; nothing will please 
the vicious but the palliation of vice and the 
contempt of virtue : therefore novellists and 
comic writers, who study popularity either for 
praise or profit, mix up vice with amiable qua- 
lities to cover and recommend it, while virtue 
is compounded with such ingredients as have a 
natural tendency to make it odious." 

The same general observation may be made 
concerning novels, which has already been made 
respecting the playhouse, that they must be 
corrupt in order to be palatable* 



NoTB Q. p. 76. 

<< A man wickedly and sinfully tempts him- 
self when by presuming on his own strength 
he unnecessarily runs into danger, and ventures 
upon the next occasion of sinning ; for this is 
to come within the deviPs purlieus, and if any 



APPENDIX. 137 

such be made his prey, they must thank their 
own venturousness and folly. We tempt our- 
selves to the commission of those sins, which we 
beforehand know such company, or such em- 
ployments, or such like circumstances will 
prompt us to commit. 

" We find the propensities of our wicked 
hearts strongly bent towards sin at all times, 
even then when we have no external objects 
propounded to excite them; but when these 
inward inclinations do meet with outward enr 
forcements, as alluring objects, fit opportunities, 
,strong persuasions from others, inducing ex- 
amples, or the like ; the temptation then grows 
headstrong and wild to purpose ; and if grace 
doth not rein it in with a hard hand, it will 
certainly hurry us into the commission of that 
sin which hath so many advantages to commend 
it to the soul.*' Bishop Hopkins on the Lord's 
PraycTj p. 1331 The works of this right reve- 
rend author are a rich treasury of divine know^ 
ledge, and are strongly recommended to the 
reader's attention. They have been reprinted 
in four vols. 8vo. 



138 APPENDIX. 

Note R, p, 79, 

1 Pet. iv. 2. Archbishop Leigh ton, speaking 
of conversion in his commentary on this passage, 
says, *< Half-reformations in a Christian turn 
to his prejudice ; it is only best to be thoroughly 
reformed, and to give up with all idols ; not to 
live one half to himself and the world, and, as 
it were, another half to God ; for ihat is but 
falsely so, and in reality it cannot be. The 
only way is to make a. heap of all, to have all 
sacrificed together, and to live ^o no lust, but 
altogether and only to God. Thus it must be. 
There is no monster in the new creation, no 
half new creature, either all or not at all, ok$q f} 
(Ayi oXft^^." If this extract should recommend 
the admirable work from which it is taken to 
the attention of any one, the recommendation 
will afibrd him a solid ground -of thankfulness 
to God for these pages, even though he should 
meet with nothing in them beside that is worth 
the trouble of a refusal. 



APPENDIX. 139 

Note S. p. 83. 

<< Man is that link in the chain of being which 
connects the animal with the angelic nature. 
Compounded of both natures, he is capable, 
in his present state, of pleasure suited to both. 
It would be absurd, therefore, we grant, to deny 
him those of the animal kind under their proper 
regulations ; but how much more absurd (even 
by how much the joys of an angel must be 
supposed superior to those of a brute) to refuse 
him such as are spiritual ? That men .should 
practically esteem the former better than the 
latter, is a sad proof of the corruption of the 
human heart; that they should coolly plead 
for the unjust decision, and thus mistake tbdr 
degradation for their privilege and their interest, 
demonstrates that» in the fall of ni9n, the head 
has suffered equally with the heart.*' Christian 
Observer, vol. ii. p. 13. 



140 APPENDIX. 

Note T. p. 89. 

** Sin universally prevails ; and, except where 
it greatly interferes with the welfare of society, 
is countenanced and approved. The customs 
of .the world sanction the practice of it to a 
certain extent in every one, whether male or 
female ; though the greater latitude of indul- 
gence is allowed to men. The very education 
that is given both to our sons and daughters 
tends only to foster in them pride ^nd vanity, 
wantonness and sensuality, worldliness and pro- 
faneness; let but these dispositions assume the 
names of ease, elegance, and gaiety, and they 
instantly lose all their malignant qualities ; and, 
instead of exciting our abhorrence, endear to 
us the persons by whom they are indulged.*' 
Simeon* s Helps, vol. ii. p. 624. 



THE END. 






i